[NYPOST] Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... claimed it could build a nuclear weapons as its supreme leader on Saturday threatened the US and Israel with a ''tooth-breaking response'' to Israel's strike on Iranian military targets.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...> spoke with students ahead of the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran.
''The enemies, whether the Zionist regime or the United States of America, will definitely receive a tooth-breaking response to what they are doing to Iran and the land of the Medes and the Persians and to the resistance front,'' Khamenei, 85, said in a video released by the state media, referring to Tehran-backed terror group like Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... and Hezbollah.
The comments came a day after a top adviser issued a warning about Iran's nuclear capabilities. Adviser Kamal Kharrazi said Friday the country could alter its policies on using nuclear weapons if the threat seems big enough.
''If an existential threat arises, Iran will modify its nuclear doctrine, we have the capability to build weapons and have no issue in this regard,'' Kharrazi told Lebanese media, Fox News reported.
A day earlier, Khamenei reportedly instructed his forces to prepare a direct attack against Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2024
11:49 ||
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#4
Iran's capacity to put another 300 missiles in the air toward Israel is in doubt.
Iran's capacity to launch an effective attack on Israel with their old F-14s is pretty close to zero.
Yes they could put a nuke on a truck and drive it to Israel but that would likely be detected and might even go off in Iraq or Jordan.
Iran could demand Hezbollah to launch all their remaining missiles at once but Hezbollah would likely not be able to do that. Furthermore once they didn't have anything else to lauch Hezbollah is much less of a threat.
Iran could try launching a thousand drones but I'm not sure they have anywhere near that capacity.
Wonder who is going to tell the Ayatollah.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
11/02/2024 19:19
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#5
Iran's capacity to put another 300 missiles in the air toward Israel is in doubt.
#7
^5
A lot of the stations and hardware that were used to fuel the ballistic missiles were destroyed in the 26 October attack. Iran may have more that weren't hit but that is unknown.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
11/02/2024 19:53
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#10
A lot of the stations and hardware that were used to fuel the ballistic missiles were destroyed in the 26 October attack.
When the perfidious Juice launched their utterly unprovoked attack on Iran, everyone was going on about nuke labs and oil facilities, none of which were struck. The stuff that did get blowed up were the Iranian air defenses because that is always the first thing in any good air strike, and lots of missile production facilities, including the machines used to mix up solid rocket propellant. It was not as sexy as blowing up Kharg Island, but it keeps Iran from rebuilding the arsenal they recently set off which will be a disadvantage in the next round. Israel seems to be playing the long game.
[LegalInsurrection] Recent reports indicate that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and its Russian counterpart Roscosmos are facing serious safety concerns on the International Space Station (ISS), potentially leading to preparations for an emergency evacuation.
NASA’s astronauts aboard the International Space Station have been told to prepare for an urgent evacuation amid growing safety concerns.
The US space agency and its Russian counterpart, Roscomos, are tracking 50 ’areas of concern’ related to a growing leak aboard the station.
NASA is now calling the cracks in a Russian service module a ’top safety risk’ — escalating the threat rating to five out of five.
Astronauts have been warned to stay in the American section when the module is open so they can be close to their spacecraft in case of an emergency evacuation.
The most pressing issue is an ongoing air leak in the Zvezda Service Module in the Russian portion of the station, which has been tracked for the past five years.
The leaks’ exact cause is not known, nor is it clear exactly where the air is leaving the space station. Both space agencies have narrowed their focus to internal and external welds that may have deteriorated, according to the inspector general.
The U.S. space agency has been working closely with Roscosmos to identify the source of the leaks and ensure crew safety, Free said. Since the last round of patches over the summer, "the leakage rate has gone down," he said.
"We’ve asked them to minimize how long that hatch is open, and they are minimizing it," Free said. "We’ve come to a compromise that they close it in the evening."
NASA has determined the station remains safe enough for the 11 people aboard. Still, the agency decided its astronauts need more options in the event that a rapid departure from the space station becomes necessary.
#4
How about do a space walk with a bunch of soapy water and just spray don the whole service module with it and look for bubbles. Just like you do a leaking tire. It's a simple test.
#5
If worse comes to worse which it most always does, can't they just open the door and jump? I mean, it's downhill all the way gravitationally speaking.
Lands Starship Trooper like in The Gods Must Be Crazy.
[BREITBART] Former Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams ...sour grapes lo-o-o-o-o-ser (Loser! Loser! Loser!) of the 2018 Georgia governor's race. Then she wanted to be Joe Biden's vice president, so now she can sour grape about that too... said Friday on CNN ...formerly the Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for... 's ''News Central'' that ''voter suppression activity'' was occurring in Georgia despite record turnout.
Co-anchor Kate Bolduan asked, ''Early voting has been just breaking records from day one in Georgia. You have been working on improving voter turnout in Georgia for years. What do you think is driving this surge in early voting this time?''
Abrams said, ''Well, while we are excited about who's showing up we have to understand that turnout does not mean there is not voter suppression activity. A lot of those voters in 2020 were able to vote by mail. One of the reasons we're seeing early lines is because they can no longer use the easier method of voting by mail because of SB 202, because of SB 189 laws that Brad Raffensperger, and Brian Kemp supported and pushed forward.''
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2024
11:37 ||
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#2
OK, so for some knuckle dragger opinion. As I watch the republican show up to the polls and the numbers are out stretching the dems there is a lot of joy on the right. But the republicans, or the dems for that matter, are not going to decide the vote. The number of independent voters in all states is staggering. I have never seen it like this before, or maybe I never noticed. In my state of AZ and the majority of states I have looked at, if the independents vote, in most states, at 60% or greater to one candidate, that side will win.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/02/2024 13:03
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#3
In every recent election it’s been up to the Independents to tip the vote, 49 Pan. Beyond the margin of cheating in key districts, anyway.
But also quite a few people claim to be independent or undecided if they don’t want to tell the pollster how they plan to vote — mostly Trump voters who feel unsafe coming out of the closet.
#5
Apropos of nothing - just a morning laugh amidst these tense days - this will make you laugh. In the Hall of the Mountain King done by three guys with far too much time in a bar and great imaginations!
[FoxNews] Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Thursday night that the video is 'obviously fake'.
A video of Haitian migrants voting in Georgia’s elections is fake and the work of "Russian influence actors," according to U.S. intelligence. In the clip, two people claiming to be Haitian migrants say they are planning to vote multiple times in two different Georgia counties for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Show us the clip so we can judge for ourselves, O clever Fox News journalists. Who knows? We might even agree with you and the US Intelligence Community.
"We’re voting Kamala Harris. Yesterday, we voted in Gwinnett County, and today we’re voting in Fulton County," one person says. "We have all our document – driver’s license. We invite all Haitians to come to America and bring families."
The video was amplified by right-wing accounts on social media.
"The [U.S. Intelligence Community] assesses that Russian influence actors manufactured a recent video that falsely depicted individuals claiming to be from Haiti and voting illegally in multiple counties in Georgia," read a joint statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
"This judgment is based on information available to the IC and prior activities of other Russian influence actors, including videos and other disinformation activities. The Georgia Secretary of State has already refuted the video’s claims as false."
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Thursday night that the video is "obviously fake," and likely the product of Russian trolls "attempting to sow discord and chaos on the eve of the election."
The intelligence community’s statement said the video "is part of Moscow’s broader effort to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of the U.S. election and stoke divisions among Americans."
"In the lead up to Election Day and in the weeks and months after, the IC expects Russia to create and release additional media content that seeks to undermine trust in the integrity of the election and divide Americans."
Georgia is one of seven swing states that could decide the presidential election. More than half of the state's fired-up electorate have already gone to the polls during the early voting period. Former President Donald Trump won Georgia in 2016 while President Joe Biden won the Peach State in 2020.
Haitian migrants found themselves front and center of the U.S. news cycle after unfounded claims that they were eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, were amplified by Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance. The 60,000-person town saw a rapid influx of some 20,000 migrants, largely of Haitian origin, over the past few years.
A report by the ODNI last week said definitively that Russia prefers former President Donald Trump to win the election and Iran prefers Harris. Both U.S. adversaries are working to interfere in the election.
"Moscow and Tehran may also see an opportunity to continue pushing content favoring their preferred outcome," the report said. "For instance, Russian influence actors have pushed negative messaging about VP Harris and publicly alleged conspiracy theories about her elevation to the top of the ticket. Iranian cyber actors may try to publish content denigrating former President Trump."
The report also warned that China, Iran and Russia are "better prepared to exploit" elections this year due to "lessons drawn from the 2020 cycle."
China, the report said, is likely to focus its efforts on down-ballot congressional races.
The report found that foreign actors "will probably refrain from" trying to alter the vote count since vote casting machines are not connected to the internet and 97% of voters live in precincts with paper records and a paper audit trail — and doing so could prompt Washington to retaliate.
But U.S. adversaries took lessons from the drawn-out vote counting process in 2020.
"Many of these countries did not have a full appreciation for the various election processes that happen after polls close, and now that they have greater awareness of the significance, they have greater ability to attempt to disrupt them," an ODNI official told reporters.
Intelligence officials have routinely warned that Beijing, Moscow and Tehran would be working overtime to sow division and undermine confidence in the U.S. governing system in an election year, and especially in the days leading up to Election Day.
The official noted that intelligence linked Moscow to a recent unfounded claim circulating on social media about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sexually assaulting a student while he was a high school teacher.
[KhaamaPress] A report states that Pak military Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s targeting Tehrik-e-Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... Pakistain (TTP) positions in Bannu, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, have caused civilian casualties.
Three Mighty Pak Army personnel, including an officer, were reportedly killed during the operation.
The festivities between the military and TTP forces have been ongoing since midnight. The Pak military deployed helicopters along with both light and heavy weaponry to strike TTP strongholds in the area.
Some Bannu residents claim that military aircraft attacked civilian areas, resulting in civilian casualties. The Pak military has not officially commented on civilian losses, though military sources confirmed the deaths of three army personnel, including an officer.
Reports indicate that early in the morning, Pak forces attempted to surround Hafiz Gul Bahadur ...a member of the Madda Khel clan of the Uthmanzai Waziris. Educated in a Deobandi madrassa located in Multan, he is affiliated with the Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) political party. Upon the formation of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in December 2007, he was announced as the group's overall naib amir under Baitullah Mehsud, who was based in South Wazoo, but has largely distanced himself from the TTP due to rivalries with the Mehsuds and disagreements about the TTP's attacks against the Pak state.. , a TTP commander. During the operation, a military officer named Atif and his soldiers were ambushed by TTP fighters, prompting the use of helicopters to break the siege.
the report added that non-combatants were killed, and several homes were damaged in the crossfire. The exact number of civilian casualties remains unconfirmed.
Two TTP snuffies have been confirmed dead in the fighting so far. The situation has added to the tensions within the region.
This escalation in hostilities comes as the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) has recently called for the military and TTP to vacate Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. In a recent assembly, PTM members resolved to take action if both forces do not withdraw from the region.
The continuing festivities have heightened tensions in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, leaving local residents in a vulnerable position amidst the violence. The need for a peaceful resolution and immediate protection for civilians is becoming increasingly critical as the conflict unfolds.
[GEO.TV] Top Chinese research institutions linked to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) have used Meta's publicly available Llama model to develop an AI tool for potential military applications, according to academic papers and analysts.
In a June paper reviewed by Rooters, six Chinese researchers from three institutions, including two under the PLA's leading research body, the Academy of Military Science (AMS), detailed how they had used an early version of Meta's Llama as a base for what it calls "ChatBIT".
The researchers used the Llama 2 13B large language model (LLM) that Meta released in February 2023, incorporating their own parameters to construct a military-focused AI tool to gather and process intelligence, and offer accurate and reliable information for operational decision-making.
ChatBIT was fine-tuned and "optimised for dialogue and question-answering tasks in the military field", the paper said. It was found to outperform some other AI models that were roughly 90% as capable as OpenAI's powerful ChatGPT-4.
The researchers didn't elaborate on how they defined performance or specify whether the AI model had been put into service.
"It's the first time there has been substantial evidence that PLA military experts in China have been systematically researching and trying to leverage the power of open-source LLMs, especially those of Meta, for military purposes," said Sunny Cheung, associate fellow at the Jamestown Foundation who specialises in China's emerging and dual-use technologies including AI.
Meta has embraced the open release of many of its AI models, including Llama. It imposes restrictions on their use, including a requirement that services with more than 700 million users seek a license from the company.
Its terms also prohibit use of the models for "military, warfare, nuclear industries or applications, espionage" and other activities subject to US defence export controls, as well as for the development of weapons and content intended to "incite and promote violence".
However,
some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... because Meta's models are public, the company has limited ways of enforcing those provisions.
In response to Rooters questions, Meta cited its acceptable use policy and said it took measures to prevent misuse.
"Any use of our models by the People's Liberation Army is unauthorized and contrary to our acceptable use policy," Molly Montgomery, Meta's director of public policy, told Rooters in a phone interview.
The Chinese researchers include Geng Guotong and Li Weiwei with the AMS's Military Science Information Research Center and the National Innovation Institute of Defense Technology, as well as researchers from the Beijing Institute of Technology and Minzu University.
"In the future, through technological refinement, ChatBIT will not only be applied to intelligence analysis, but also... strategic planning, simulation training and command decision-making will be explored," the paper said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2024
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The 53-hectare Mesyatsev Island, which was part of the Franz Josef Land archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, has disappeared. This was reported by the Russian Geographical Society.
The organization's website notes that the island melted as a result of global warming. As Alexey Kucheiko, associate professor at the Moscow Aviation Institute, who supervised the discovery using satellite images, explained, navigation maps will have to be corrected as a result of this event.
It is specified that in 2015 the island could be seen on maps, but by August 2024 its area had decreased from 53 hectares to three hectares, and a month later it had completely disappeared. As the researchers suggest, another factor in the disappearance of the island was the erosion of the coastline, which was caused by rising sea levels.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, earlier on October 1, the Bloomberg agency, citing the World Weather Attribution (WWA) organization, wrote that the recent powerful flooding in Spain was caused by global warming. It was noted that the experts' analysis showed that precipitation in Spain was approximately 12% stronger, and its probability was twice as high as in the pre-industrial climate.
Leading researcher at the Pushchino Scientific Center for Biological Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, climatologist and biophysicist Alexey Karnaukhov said that due to global warming, the weather in St. Petersburg could change dramatically. According to him, if such events develop, the climate in the Northern capital will be colder than in Greenland.
…a South American vine made into a hallucinogenic beverage used for indigenous religious ceremonies…
church in Florida is facing criminal charges over accusations he randomly sucker punched a sleeping passenger during a flight from California to Washington, D.C., beating the fellow traveler — for no apparent reason — until the cabin was speckled with blood, according to a federal complaint filed Tuesday.
About two hours into the five-hour journey on Monday aboard United Airlines flight 2247 from San Francisco to Dulles, Everett Chad Nelson,
…not an indigenous South American name, which along with his appearance suggests he is a professional cultural appropriator as well as vicious…
44, left his seat in the rear of the aircraft and headed to one of the lavatories up front, the complaint states.
When Nelson exited the bathroom, he stopped at seat 12F and “without notice, began physically attacking a sleeping male passenger by punching him repeatedly in the face and head until blood was drawn,” the complaint alleges, adding that the assault continued for a full minute. The man began screaming, after which a Good Samaritan intervened and managed to pull Nelson off of him, according to the complaint.
Aside from giving the unidentified passenger two black eyes, Nelson opened up a gash on the man’s nose, spattering blood on his seat, the wall, the window, and the sleeves of Nelson’s green windbreaker, the complaint goes on. It provides no motive, does not say the two had a preexisting relationship of any kind, and reads as if the pummeling came completely out of nowhere.
“Nelson had no observable injuries and there was no indication that [the alleged victim] struck him in defense,” the complaint states.
Following the shocking beatdown, the complaint says flight attendants moved Nelson to a seat up front, where the person who stepped in was able to keep an eye on him for the remainder of the flight. Numerous other passengers witnessed the beatdown, and the victim was treated for his injuries by a doctor who happened to be onboard, the complaint continues.
The victim was deaf and non-verbal, according to one passenger who saw the vicious beatdown.
That sounds ominous…
Nelson, a Virginia native, grew up in a “strict independent fundamentalist Bible-believing Baptist family,” according to a speaker’s bio from a 2022 conference for investors in the psychedelics industry. On track to become a missionary, Nelson instead earned a degree in computer engineering from George Mason University in Virginia and worked on drone aircraft beginning in 2004. He got married and things were fine for a while – until “[r]ejection of God and everything spiritual eventually led to my life falling apart.”
“Ayahuasca plus open-minded spiritual study saved my life,” Nelson said in his bio. “It showed me that sharing my gifts is my path with heart. I am now forming an Ayahuasca Church in Southern Florida. We have a grand vision to build a sacred temple in the shape of an elven star. We also want to purchase land in natural settings for conservation, sacred ceremony, and growing the medicine.”
Nelson is charged with one count of assault by beating, striking, and wounding in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States. His trial date has been set for December 11. If convicted, Nelson faces a year behind bars.
Cadence Mertz, a public defender assigned to Nelson’s case, did not respond to The Independent’s request for comment.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] On the night of November 1, four powerful flares occurred on the Sun, the Institute of Applied Geophysics (IPG) reported.
One of the flares was close to the highest class X.
“On November 1 at 00:54 Moscow time, an M9.5 flare lasting 55 minutes was recorded in the X-ray range in the sunspot group 3878 (N15E26),” the IPG reported.
In turn, the X-ray Astronomy Laboratory of the Sun of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences recalled that region 3878, during its last passage across the disk, produced a magnetic storm of level G4.66 on October 11, 2024.
"The storm was the second most powerful in the entire 25th solar cycle. The maximum radiation of the flare was recorded near the Earth's orbit at 00:20 Moscow time. Based on the results of measuring the X-ray flux, the event was assigned the score X2.0," the laboratory reported.
Scientists noted that the X2.0 event "does not look threatening," but the "reputation" of 3878, which on October 11 "managed to squeeze out the second most powerful magnetic storm in seven years from an X1.8 flare," is alarming.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, on October 9, a level X flare occurred on the Sun. It caused a plasma ejection towards the Earth and a magnetic storm. As scientists noted, the plasma was ejected exactly along the Sun-Earth line, the geometric dimensions of the ejection exceeded possible calculation errors.
A plasma cloud with a speed of about 600 km/s and a temperature of about 700 thousand degrees reached the Earth on October 28. Two active spots 3842 and 3848 are located on the side of the Sun visible from Earth. They caused powerful magnetic storms at the beginning of the month.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] On November 1, the Federal Security Service published archival documents on the identification and capture of Ukrainian nationalist, SS man and punisher Vasily Malazhensky, who was a member of the OUN (Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists — a terrorist organization whose activities are banned in the Russian Federation) and operated in Volyn and Yugoslavia.
FSB declassified document on participant in OUN massacres of Poles in Volyn
In the spring of 1940, Malazhensky left for Germany, where he joined the nationalist organization "Ukrainian National Association" (a terrorist organization whose activities are banned in the Russian Federation). In the summer of 1942, he left for the territory of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Wehrmacht and joined the police.
In the spring of 1943, Malazhensky joined the OUN, participated in collecting clothing and food for the gangs of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA - a terrorist organization whose activities are banned in the Russian Federation), and in the summer he joined the Melnyk gangs operating in Volyn - supporters of Andrey Melnikov, OUN (m).
The FSB cited excerpts from a report that, as part of the investigation into the crimes of Ukrainian punitive forces, was received in December 1967 by the head of the Investigative Department of the KGB under the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Major General of Justice A. Volkov.
It states that in the summer of 1943, Malazhensky established contact with the leader of the OUN (m) gang, Bily, and attracted members of the gang he had created to cooperate with Melnykivtsi. Together with Bily's gang, on July 11, 1943, he took part in an attack on the villages of Gurov and Vyhranka in the Ivanichevsk district of the Volyn region, where Poles lived.
"Armed with a rifle, Malazhensky and others broke into the village of Gurov and Vihranka, where bandits committed a brutal massacre of civilians, shooting more than 100 citizens. The bandits plundered the property of the dead and burned their farms. Malazhensky appropriated a horse from the plundered property," the documents say.
In July, during the retreat of the Nazis from the Sokal and Hrubyshevsky districts, Malazhensky voluntarily joined the Ukrainian punitive battalion that was part of the Wehrmacht troops.
After the German officer Asmus was killed in a shootout with Soviet partisans near the village of Chlanów in the Lublin Voivodeship on July 22, 1944, the punitive battalion burned down the villages of Chlanów, Wladyslawki and the Chlanów farm, and 45 residents were shot.
The massacre was led by a centurion under the pseudonym Vovk (Wolf) Mikhail Karkots.
“In September 1944, Malazhensky, as part of Vovk’s squad of the same [Ukrainian] legion, took part in the suppression of the anti-fascist Warsaw uprising, and later, in the autumn of the same year, twice took part in raids against Polish partisans in the area of the city of Mekhova,” the documents say.
After that, he took part in punitive operations against the partisans of Yugoslavia and military actions as part of the 14th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division "Galicia" against units of the Red Army in Austria.
After the end of World War II, Malazhensky was captured by the Allies and was held in a prisoner of war camp in the Italian city of Rimini. There he continued to collaborate with the OUN (m) and in the summer of 1946 he was released and went to Munich. Here he received the task from the organization to go to Poland and organize an illegal transfer of OUN emissaries to the USSR on the Polish-Soviet border.
Malazhensky was detained by Soviet border guards in January 1949 while attempting to illegally cross the Polish-Soviet border. Since he concealed information about his punitive activities at the trial, he was sentenced to only one and a half years in a corrective labor camp.
In the summer of 1959, he was summoned for a conversation to the Ukrainian SSR KGB Directorate for the Vinnitsa region. He went into hiding, fearing that his wartime crimes had been exposed.
The KGB learned of Malazhensky's crimes in January 1967. He was arrested on February 3 in the Lviv region. In early October 1967, Poland handed over investigative materials incriminating him in the crimes he had committed.
The Lviv Regional Court heard the criminal case against Malazhensky in an open court session from December 8 to 15, 1967. He was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment (the first five years of which were in prison).
As reported by the Regnum news agency, Russian President Vladimir Putin on January 27, at the opening ceremony of a memorial in memory of the civilians of the USSR who were victims of the Nazi genocide during the Great Patriotic War, said that Russia would make every effort to completely exterminate Nazism. There is no statute of limitations on Nazi crimes. Each one will be investigated.
I have followed this young woman's work for many, many years. Some of her work occasionally can be found on V Kontakte
Good to see she is getting recognition and acknowledgement now. by Evgeniy Konovalov
[REGNUM] Her poems are echoes of war that penetrate into the very heart. Stories about how war changes a person, makes one appreciate simple things and hardens the spirit. She is a resident of Lugansk who survived the siege and the mother of a soldier who fought for the liberation of Lysychansk. Her son is a veteran of the SVO, her father is a militiaman of the first wave, and her hometown is like a splinter on a map where explosions can still be heard.
However, there is no room for fear or despair in her words. Only fortitude, love for the Motherland and faith in the future.
Elena Zaslavskaya is a poet and children's writer born in Lisichansk and living in Lugansk. Her work is imbued with the spirit of war and personal experiences. The events of 2014 and 2022 became a deep fault line in her life, radically changing her perception of the world and her outlook on creativity.
"I look at my life before 2014 and after. This is a point on my life's path that changed a lot. Now I try to live in such a way that I can do everything I can every day. Say I love to those I love, help those I can help. And, of course, poems on military themes have become an integral part of my work," says the poetess.
Her first poem on a military theme, "Black Bread", appeared in May 2014, and includes the following lines: "There has been no trouble for a long time, there has been no war for a long, long time." Since then, her poetry has become a reflection of the events taking place in Donbass and Novorossiya.
"The Year of War", "Novorossiya of Thunder. Novorossiya of Dreams", "Donbass Imagineer" - these are the books that became milestones in Zaslavskaya's work. In them, she shares her experiences, observations, and reflections on the war and its consequences.
“My work is essentially my poetic diary,” the poetess notes.
In it, she writes not only about herself, but also about the people she meets, about those who found themselves in the center of tragic events. There is an author's preamble to one of Zaslavskaya's poems: "All heroes are real, all coincidences are not accidental, all rights are defenseless."
Her works also include stories about a father and son who went to defend their homeland.
"My father confronted my mother with the fact: 'That's it, I'm wearing the uniform.' At first, it was something like a people's militia. Then, when the SBU was taken, my father was among those who formed a human shield in front of the building. And we came then, too. I remember it was a point of attraction for Luhansk passionaries and those who supported the Russian Spring. My son Ivan was there, too. He said then: 'Mom, I hope this doesn't end before I grow up,'" Zaslavskaya recalls.
The war, according to her, became part of reality for her family, as it was for all residents of the liberated territories. The poetess's son is a reenactor, always interested in history and military affairs. Ivan went to the SVO, following his grandfather's example.
"On February 18, 2022, two decrees were issued: on general evacuation and on general mobilization. Ivan immediately went to the military registration and enlistment office, but he was unable to get into the unit where his friends served. So he decided to go with all the students and teachers of the Luhansk Matusovsky Academy," Elena recalls.
Seeing the men off from the walls of the academy, no one could have imagined that this farewell would be so tragic and at the same time historical.
"The SVO broke out — the world turned upside down. For me, a person who lived in the conditions of an unrecognized republic, every day was a test. The severity of this state, the constant uncertainty were unbearable. But when Russia recognized the republics and the SVO began, I felt something like a breath of fresh air. On the one hand, it was joy, and on the other, it was justice, for which we had fought for so long," the poetess admits.
Ivan took part in the battles for Krasny Liman, Severodonetsk, Lisichansk. He went through encirclement, wounds, losses. His military experience became an integral part of his personality, and his return to civilian life was a turning point that left an imprint on his future destiny.
To survive the horrors of war, Zaslavskaya's son, while in the combat zone, wrote down his experiences in a notebook that his mother had given to the combat zone as humanitarian aid. It contained poems and diary entries full of emotion and pain.
"He wrote poems before this, but it was more like a toy. And during the war he approached creativity more seriously," the poetess notes.
Ivan's diary was not published as a separate collection, but its publications appeared in various literary magazines and anthologies dedicated to the war, such as "Velikiy Blokpost" and "Za Drugi Svoya." Zaslavskaya hopes that a selection of Ivan's poems, which is called "Zapiski iz dugoutazh", will be published as a separate book.
"The hardships of military life that he endured, I think, strengthened his character. Although the post-war syndrome is felt even now. For example, he did not resume his studies. He was a student at the beginning of the SVO, but now it seems to him that studying is something frivolous after the war. The turning point came prematurely," says Elena.
Lysychansk is a special pain in the poetess's heart. She remembers the sign "Lysychansk" (in Ukrainian), which she saw at the location of her son's regiment. Then she understood - liberation is near. Joy for her son, pride in his feat and relief for his father, who could not return to his hometown for many years, merge into a single feeling.
"I was happy not so much for myself as for my father, who since 2014 has not been able to come to his hometown, where he was born, where the graves of his loved ones are, where his friends and classmates are still alive. And I lived there for 16 years. For me, it is my hometown, we were waiting for liberation, and I am proud that my son took part in this. Ivan was also happy and called my dad, said: "Grandpa, you wanted it, but I am doing it," says Zaslavskaya.
But the war is not over. The front line is close, drones fly over the city, and the Internet and communications are lost. Her hometown, where she spent her youth, lives under constant threat.
"Entry into the city is only possible with a residence permit, which I don't have. I've been a resident of Lugansk for a long time, so I don't go there, but my mom and dad do. My aunt lives there, so I know what my hometown is going through and how the restoration is going. You can still feel the breath of war there," says the poetess.
Despite all the hardships, Zaslavskaya finds the strength to create. She writes poetry, teaches at the Lugansk Academy of Culture, and shares her experience with her students. She believes that beauty and peace can overcome even the most terrible trials.
"Life gives us balance. Everything is mixed up in our life. In one day you can see a war - there goes a soldier, there goes a car with "200" written on it, and then you see a couple sitting and kissing, you go to a class, tell students how important it is to live, create and not give up. You go - and inspiration strikes you. So everything is close by, you just need to be able to see beauty," Zaslavskaya is convinced.
She believes that war will not break our society, but will make it stronger. She also believes in victory, in peace, and that light always conquers darkness.
"The war will not just change society - it has already changed it. We have many who are now at the front, plus their families. There are already veterans: the old guard, militiamen, SVO participants. These are people who understand what a common misfortune is and what it means to win in it.
This consolidates society, gives people a slightly different perspective on life. They begin to value what previously seemed ordinary and natural to them: family, home, native language, Victory Day holiday and the Motherland,” says the poetess.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[News-Front] 21:12 The military personnel of the "West" group werepreventedan attempt to carry out a rotation at one of the strongholds of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
A UAV crew of the Guards Tank Army of the "West" group of forces detected Ukrainian nationalists as they approached their positions. The UAV operators dropped ammunition from the drone, which accurately hit the target.
21:00 Soldiers of the 66th Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine complain on social networks about the critical situation at the front. According to servicemen, "ordinary workers are sent to the front, who immediately die, while the children of the Ukrainian elite are having fun."
20:14 Crew of the Su-34 multifunctional supersonic fighter-bomber of the Aerospace Forces inflicted an attack on personnel and a stronghold of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the border area of the Kursk region.
20:08 Britain is not going to send its troops to Ukraine amid allegations of the presence of North Korean military personnel in Russia, a spokesman for the prime minister of the kingdom said.
19:24 In the Zaporizhia region, a crew of the Pantsir-S air defense missile and gun system of the Dnepr group of forcesstruckreconnaissance UAV of the Armed Forces of Ukraine of foreign manufacture.
19:23 Crews of 122mm 2S1 self-propelled howitzers "Gvozdika" of Tula paratroopers prevented an attempt by Ukrainian Armed Forces equipment to break through into the Glushkovsky district of the Kursk region.
18:05 Aerial reconnaissance by one of the units of the North group of forces was carried out discovered firing position of an artillery gun of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Sumy region.
After analyzing the intelligence data received, a decision was made to strike the identified target. The enemy artillery gun was destroyed by a direct hit from a Lancet loitering munition.
17:23 Crew of the Mi-28NM helicopter struck concentration of manpower and armored vehicles of the Ukrainian Armed Forces units.
16:15 Area of concentration of enemy reserves destroyed in Sumy region
As a result of reconnaissance activities of the RF Armed Forces, an area of concentration of enemy personnel and equipment was discovered in the area of one of the settlements of Sumy Oblast. The Russian Aerospace Forces pilots struck the identified target with high-precision weapons. At the moment of the strike, the enemy organized the gathering of battalion personnel.
The precise hit and the results of the destruction of the concentration of Ukrainian Armed Forces manpower were recorded by objective control means.
15:20 Russian troops have liberated another 20 square kilometers between the settlements of Bogoyavlenka and Novoukrainka in the DPR. Vladimir Rogov told TASS.
15:17 Russian paratroopers' FPV drone operators attacked and destroyed a tank and a pickup truck of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Sudzhansky district of the Kursk region.
13:13 The Russian army has liberated the village of Leonidovka in the DPR, the Ministry of Defense reported.
13:10 The Russian Armed Forces have carried out a high-precision strike on the control center for unmanned systems of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Defense reports.
12:12 Russian Armed Forces are developing an offensive in the South Donetsk direction
By data of “Come and see”, the Russian army was able to push the front almost 15 kilometers away from Ugledar.
“At the moment, Shakhtyorskoye and Yasnaya Polyana have been liberated,” a Russian fighter told the channel.
According to him, the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to roll back. The enemy is trying to slow down the offensive of the Russian Armed Forces with the help of drones.
11:35 Footage of destruction of a group of Ukrainian Armed Forces militants in Kurskaya Ol'govka and inspection after clearing the area.
10:33 Snipers of the Pacific Fleet Marine Brigade provided advance of assault units of the "East" military group near Ugledar.
09:46 Calculation of the ATGM "Fagot" of the "Dnepr" group of forces destroyed infantry of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
– Orekhovskoe direction, Zaporizhzhya region
Using an ATV, the crew quickly moved to the firing point and fired at the enemy with the Fagot anti-tank missile system.
One of the last combat missions left the Ukrainian Armed Forces without about five servicemen.
09:18 Su-35s crews completed air cover for Aerospace Forces crews in the border areas of the Kursk region.
During the performance of combat missions, the crews of the Su-35S multi-role fighters practiced air cover in a designated area of operations for bomber and attack aircraft, as well as army aviation helicopters, when carrying out air strikes against armored vehicles and personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The aircraft also used its airborne weapons system to detect enemy air defense targets.
08:45 Telegram channel «WarGonzo»:
Frontline report for the morning of 01.11.2024
Zaporizhzhya Front:
– Mainly positional battles continue. Without significant changes in LBS. (Fig. 1)
Donetsk Front:
- The offensive of the Russian Armed Forces continues here in several directions. Yasnaya Polyana and Shakhtyorskoye have been liberated. Also, the settlement of Kurakhovka has been liberated. Russian troops are fighting in the Volchenko area, where there are also tactical successes.
Chasovoyarsk direction:
- Russian troops continue to fight in the city limits, as well as improve their positions on the flanks, at every opportunity. Over the past 24 hours, the situation on the ground has not undergone any serious changes.
Kursk region:
- Counter battles are continuing here in several directions. Russian troops are not going to switch to active assault actions, apparently preparing for another attack. Long-range weapons are actively working on the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
08:10 Telegram channel «Fisherman»:
Chronicle of the special military operation for October 31, 2024
– Russian troops used drones to hit enemy targets in the Kyiv, Cherkasy and Dnepropetrovsk regions, and also fired a dozen missiles at a bridge in Zatoka in the Odessa region.– Ukrainian formations, in turn, attacked fuel and energy complex enterprises in Ufa with drones. Several more UAVs were shot down over Volgograd. Ten UAVs attacked the seaport in Berdyansk, the port's operations were not disrupted.
– In the Pokrovsky direction, Russian troops have slightly expanded the zone of control west of Selidovo.
– In the Donetsk direction, the Russian Armed Forces took control of most of Kurakhovka, advancing in the direction of Volchenko.
– In the South Donetsk direction, fighting continues in the area of Shakhtarsk and Novoukrainka.
Ill trained, ill equipped, undermanned, disorganized, and poorly led. Other than that, the mission was a success.
[FoxNews] The U.S. Secret Service on Friday published a summary of the agency's independent investigation into the July 13 assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, which concluded that certain agents' actions and behaviors may warrant disciplinary action.
The agency's investigation, called a Mission Assurance Inquiry, "identified several instances of behaviors and acts by multiple employees that warrant review for corrective counseling and, potentially, disciplinary action," the USSS synopsis says.
"All Secret Service employees are held to a high standard of conduct in the performance of their duties when providing protection to those that entrust us with their well-being and the safety of their families," the document states.
In particular, the internal review, which will be shared with Congress, found communications deficiencies, an unclear understanding of duties among some personnel working for USSS, and certain planning failures leading up to and during Trump's campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where gunman Thomas Crooks shot Trump, the bullet skimming the former president's ear.
Crooks, 20, killed rally attendee Corey Comperatore and critically wounded two other attendees, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, in his attempt to kill Trump.
The report acknowledged that some of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) personnel tapped with assisting USSS in its security procedures that day "conveyed the belief that they were inadequately prepared due to insufficient instruction," while others did feel prepared.
USSS also found that the agency "did not have adequate command and control over the radio communications for the rally."
Certain agents failed to "adequately relay" critical information through the radio and "instead relayed critical pieces of information conveyed by law enforcement partners via telephone and text message to some, but not all, Secret Service personnel at the site."
Additionally, certain agents failed to "command the appropriate dispatch of personnel" to the area of the American Glass Research (AGR) building, where Crooks positioned himself on the roof and fired eight rounds, "after learning about a suspicious individual with a range finder" approximately one hour before shots rang out.
Two state and local law enforcement agencies with prior experience working with USSS determined that Secret Service "planning for the Butler rally lacked detail, cohesion, and clear understanding of who was in charge, all of which contributed to the overall lack of coordination."
The agency also noted in its report that the rally attracted a large crowd of about 15,000 attendees in 90-degree weather, contributing to a reported 251 requests for medical assistance that day at the rally.
USSS also pointed to a "lack of coordination" with Trump campaign staff that "caused a higher-than-expected proportion of security personnel to be diverted into assisting with medical responses."
The investigation summary concluded that the July 13 rally was a "failure for the Secret Service" that warranted "several operational, policy, and organizational changes, some because of the findings and recommendations of the Mission Assurance Inquiry, and others done proactively in the wake of the July 13 incident."
The changes include: providing the "highest level" of USSS protection to Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris that is comparable "to the level of the president"; increased staffing of agents assigned to Trump's detail; expanded use of unmanned aerial systems and counter unmanned aerial systems; radio fixes, including deployed personnel assisting with the development of radio networks; agreements with federal partners to secure more law enforcement "personnel and assets"; expanded USSS tactical coverage; expanded use of ballistic countermeasures at Secret Service-protected campaign sites; expanded use of technical countermeasures to enhance Trump's security; and "organizational changes to better align enabling technologies … to give the Secret Service a technical advantage over its adversaries."
"The Secret Service will continue to make further changes and implement viable recommendations that it receives from various entities. The agency is devoted to the mission entrusted to us and will work vigilantly to restore the trust bestowed upon us by the people we protect, the Congress, and the American people," the Mission Assurance Inquiry report concluded.
Congress and other oversight committees continue to investigate the July 13 assassination attempt.
#1
Are they being disciplined because they were to obvious about Assassination failure?
Or, because Trump has vowed a DC Swamp flush of Far Left/Right Federal Employees/Mgt, who have Anti-MAGA agendas and Mgt. wants to look like they doing their job?
#2
There won't be any Deep Swamp flush unless & until Congress becomes more interested in doing their job than in just cashing their paychecks and stretching to collect every bennie of their positions they can get their wrenching, grasping, covetous claws on. (HT: Ebenezer Scrooge)
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[LB] In a week, the enemy occupied 150 km2 of the territory of Donetsk region.
by Vera Perun
In the Donetsk region, the Russian army holds the initiative and forced the Ukrainian units to gradually retreat.
This was announced by the head of the Intelligence Center of the Estonian Defense Forces, Colonel Ants Kiviselg, ERR reports .
The average number of attacks per day remained at the same level as in previous weeks, that is, about 167 per day. The Russians seized new territories in Donetsk region.
"The armed forces of the Russian Federation are able to capture a large number of territories in the Donetsk region, primarily in the Pokrovsky, Kurakhivskyi, Vugledarskyi and Velikonovosilkivskyi districts. Over the past week, the Russian Federation has occupied an additional 150 square kilometers of territory in the region," Kiviselg said.
In addition, there are signs that the armed forces of the Russian Federation are preparing assaults in the Zaporizhzhia region. It is quite likely that the already known 76th airborne division with a permanent location in Pskov will take part in future attacks, then the goal will be the conquest of new territories, as well as the further linking of the Ukrainian armed forces in this region, the Estonian colonel added.
"It is possible that the armed forces of the Russian Federation will achieve a local breakthrough in the Pokrovsky, Kurakhiv or Vugledar districts this year," Kiviselg noted.
[AmericanThinker] Earlier on, I argued why I think it's useful to debate Leftists online, knowing that it's unlikely they'' change their minds on anything.
It's good practice as it forces us to learn their arguments and how to counter them, and there are usually others silently following along who can be convinced.
But another Leftist tactic is psychological projection, which is ascribing to another person one's own feelings, thoughts, or attitudes.
Projection is used to relieve a sense of guilt or other unpleasant feeling. Blaming your own problems on someone else seems to be de rigueur in our society of late.
It's worth noting that there is a great deal of overlap between lying and projection.
In some cases the circles on the Venn diagram would exactly coincide.
Accusations of hypocrisy are also common and it’s worth pointing out the difference between it and projection.
In brief, hypocrisy reflects on one's own behavior while projection concerns oneself and one's behavior towards others.
It would be hypocritical for person (A) who frequently rolls past stop signs to say that person (B) should always observe stop signs. It would be projection for person (A) to silently assume person (B) rolls past stop signs. It would be both hypocritical and projection for person (A) to falsely accuse person (B) of rolling past stop signs.
In today’s heated socio-political climate I contend that we’re seeing both hypocrisy and projection being utilized on a daily basis. How many times have we heard a Leftist claim that Donald Trump is "a threat to our democracy"?
The better question to ask is, “Who on the Left has not made that claim?”
The people attesting to this have been noticeably silent on the case of the FBI lying to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in their quest for surveillance warrants on Carter Page.
How much of a threat to democracy was it to conduct what amounts to a coup to remove a sitting president in the final months of his campaign and replace him with someone who never earned a single primary vote? Has that ever happened before in America?
Practically every outlet in the Democrat Media Industrial Complex (DMIC) has accused Trump of being an authoritarian, a tyrant and a dictator. They cite examples such as President Trump is "tearing up trade deals and stepping back from global institutions." The Paris climate greement placed unfair restrictions on Americans, even while "U.S. emissions of criteria air pollutants that impact human health and the environment declined by 74% between 1970 and 2018."
President Trump cancelled the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran which enriched the regime while doing little to nothing to curb their nuclear ambitions.
The people who decried these decisions either cheered or were silent when President Biden transferred student loan obligations to the taxpayers despite the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that it was unconstitutional to do so.
Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senators Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris supported the impeachment of President Trump for his telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with "no one is above the law."
When the transcript of that phone call was released, it was found that President Trump did not, in fact threaten to withhold military aid in exchange for an investigation into Burisma Holdings. At the time, Burisma was paying Hunter Biden $85k/month for … what, his expertise in the extraction, processing, sale and distribution of petroleum products? Joe Biden is on video bragging about withholding U.S. aid to Ukraine unless they fired the prosecutor who was investigating Burisma Holdings.
Response from the Left? Crickets.
The same Leftists who pilloried President Trump for an innocent phone call to President Zelensky gave a pass to then Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton when she illegally used private electronic devices to send and receive classified information, and then destroyed both the messages and the devices after they were subpoenaed by Congress.
Snip.
In all of these examples the accusations against Republicans are false (lies) while Democrats have engaged in those or similar behaviors themselves.
So where do we go from here? Speaking for myself, whenever I come across a claim against conservatives or Republicans from Leftists or Democrats I immediately assume that not only is the opposite true, but that their accusation is probably more accurately applied to the Left. This means that to determine the truth I need to investigate the story and find out what isn’t being told. I spend a great deal of time every day sifting through news stories on various news sites. I no longer get my news from the television or print media. This is what I think we all need to do in order to be properly informed.
[ZeroHedge] Earlier in the day, a video went viral of voters in Kentucky having 'issues' with an electronic voting machine that selected "Kamala Harris" when the voter had pressed on "Donald Trump"...
Admittedly, we have seen a few of these style of clips over the past few weeks and viewed it with the same level of skepticism we usually do.
However, this time is different because the local County Clerk just issued a statement on Facebook confirming the issue "did occur"... but not before he had denied it occurred.
According to the Laurel County Clerk Tony Brown, the machine was taken out of service while waiting for a rep from the AG's Office.
So, the initial reaction was:
There is no vote rigging here. It's just a vast right wing conspiracy.
Then, 3 hours later...
Ok, the voting machine was busted, but it really was just a "ballot marking device" and as long as you triple checked everything, you must have caught the error
Here's the full statement:
The Attorney General's office has been to the vote center to check the device that has been shown across social media today. In full disclosure, after several minutes of attempting to recreate the scenario, it did occur. This was accomplished by hitting some area in between the boxes. After that we tried for several minutes to do it again and could not.
Since this is going out across the USA and the world, I want to explain to everyone that this is a ballot marking device. You insert your blank ballot into it to vote your specific ballot for your precinct. It shows you who you have chosen for each race and notifies you if you didn't make a selection in a race before it allows the voter to continue to the next page. When you come to the end of the ballot it shows you how you voted in every race and issue.
It confirms with each voter that they are satisfied with their selections twice before printing the ballot. Once you receive your ballot back from the ballot marking device you can review your choices again before placing it into the scanner. If you made a mistake, you may spoil that ballot and receive another one, Kentucky Law allows two spoiled ballots only. Once you are satisfied with your ballot you may place it into the scanner, and it verifies that it has been counted.
These ballot marking devices are set for a voter to touch Inside the whole box with the name of the candidates. In the video posted you can see us going back and forth through the names with no issues. This is the same machine used by the voter in the video.
It remained at its location in the vote center and was set face down until the representative from the Attorney General's Office arrived to investigate. There were no claims of any issues with the device prior, and none since it went back into service. The voter who posted the video did cast her ballot which she said was correct.
I hate that this has occurred here in Laurel County.
We strive to have accurate, secure and safe elections that we are proud to provide to our citizens. I hope all can get to the polls and make your voice heard November 5th. If you read through this entire post, thank you very much for your time.
...isn't it 'funny' how these 'glitches' are never in Trump's favor?
#4
I wonder if the rep from the AG's Office thought to order a review of all those who had used the machine BEFORE the affected voter, to see if their final choices were not missed?
[IsraelTimes] A Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court judge has partially lifted a gag order regarding an ongoing investigation into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office over the leak of classified intelligence.
Judge Menachem Mizrahi confirms that over the past week, the Shin Bet, Israel Police and the IDF began the "open phase" of their joint investigation into a suspected breach of national security caused by the leak of classified information.
Authorities suspect that the leak harmed the achievement of Israel’s war aims, Mizrahi says.
"Several suspects were arrested for questioning, and the investigation is ongoing," he adds.
These are the approximate positions of the U.S. Navy’s deployed carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups throughout the world as of Oct. 28, 2024, based on Navy and public data. In cases where a CSG or ARG is conducting disaggregated operations, the chart reflects the location of the capital ship.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The amount of claims filed by 17 Russian TV channels against Google for 2 undecillion rubles (10 to the power of 36) or $20 decillion (2×10 to the power of 36) for blocking their accounts on the YouTube platform exceeds all the wealth accumulated in the world. This was reported on November 1 by The Washington Post (WP).
The publication cited data from The Boston Consulting Group, which estimated the world's total wealth at $477 trillion. According to the World Bank, global GDP in 2023 was about $105.4 trillion.
"In the case of verbal symmetry, the penalty could soon reach a googol - a one followed by 100 zeros - the mathematical term that inspired the name of the search engine," the publication's article says.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, on October 29 it became known that a Russian court recognized the claims of 17 Russian TV channels against Google as legitimate and ruled that the company must pay 2 undecillion rubles. If the platform does not comply with this decision within nine months, the amount will increase by 100 thousand rubles every week.
Lawyer and IT specialist Igor Baranov explained in an interview with IA Regnum that such a large amount of claims against Google was made up of the amount of lawsuits and fines issued to the company. The expert also doubts that there are real levers for collecting funds from the corporation, since it has not registered a legal entity in Russia.
Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, commenting on the size of the demands to Google, called it symbolic. Such a sum should become a reason for the organization to pay attention to the problem. The best option would be if the company corrected the situation with blocking Russian TV channels, the Kremlin representative added.
Google Corporation continues to ignore the legal demands of Russian courts, and at the moment the amount of fines is calculated in undecillions, but this is not the limit, said lawyer and IT specialist Igor Baranov in a conversation with Regnum News Agency. However, if the American company participates in the trial, the number of zeros in the final debt may be reduced, the expert believes.
The total amount of claims by 17 Russian TV channels against the American corporation Google has reached two undecillion rubles (₽2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000). During the court hearing, which took place on Monday, October 28, the judge noted that he was considering “a case in which there are many, many zeros.”
Baranov said that the amount of the claim is made up of the demands of specific organizations that believe that their rights have been violated, and very large fines. It is the fines that contribute to the increase of this amount multiple times, the specialist emphasized.
"I'm not sure that there are real levers for collecting money now, given that Google has never registered a legal entity in the Russian Federation. But if the company fails to comply with the court's decision, the fine may be indexed. But we can only guess how much it will reach," the expert shared his opinion.
According to the lawyer, if the corporation decides to participate in the trial, the amount of debt can be appealed in some way. It will not be possible to appeal the fines in their pure form, but if the company wants to comply with this court decision and pay the fines that were assessed, then theoretically the possibility of reducing the amount could be present, Baranov believes.
"But if the corporation's legal entity were present on the territory of the Russian Federation, then we could talk about malicious failure to comply with the court's decision. In such a case, all legal forces that the legal authority has are used to collect funds, especially if the company has at least some financial capacity. Potentially, it would even be possible to look at the criminal component in this case," the specialist summed up.
Regnum News Agency reported that on October 4, a Moscow court ordered Google to unblock 27 YouTube resources of the international TV channel RT. In May 2022, the court registered RT's claim and seized the property of Google LLC for a total of 500 million rubles. And then it was reported that in the event of failure to comply with the court decision, the company would pay a penalty of 100 thousand rubles daily until the actual execution of the court decision. In addition, the penalty will double every week.
It was previously reported that Russian courts had repeatedly fined Google for systematically failing to remove information prohibited for distribution in Russia and knowingly false data about a special military operation. Thus, at the end of September, the Tagansky District Court of Moscow found the American corporation guilty of committing an administrative offense under Part 2 of Article 13.41 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation ("Failure of a website owner to remove information if the obligation to remove such information is provided for by Russian legislation") and imposed a fine of 3.5 million rubles.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] The US economy has been dealt an 'October surprise' less than a week before the presidential election.
Job creation last month slowed to its weakest pace since December 2020, a shock jobs report revealed Friday.
Employers added an estimated 12,000 jobs in October, missing estimates of a 100,000-job gain by a huge margin, and sparking fears of underlying weakness in the economy.
A so-called 'October surprise' refers to an event which could influence the outcome of an upcoming November election.
Although Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump appear to be neck-and-neck, the economy is at the forefront of voters' minds.
The weak jobs number for October 'casts a murky shadow heading into next week,' Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS, said.
The ongoing Boeing strike and the devastating impact of hurricanes Helene and Milton had an impact on the figures, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.
The unemployment rate stayed steady at 4.1 percent, however, in line with economists expectations.
[GEO.TV] A strike hit a building in the coastal city of Tyre in southern Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... on Friday, an AFP correspondent said, after other heavy Israeli raids there in recent days.
Friday's strike levelled the building on the city's seafront, where rescuers and paramedics were seen pulling people from under the rubble, the AFP correspondent said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2024
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[IsraelTimes] UNRWA accuses IDF of damaging its office in Nur Shams during operation, military denies responsibility, says terrorists had planted explosives nearby
The Israel Defense Forces said it had wrapped up a day-long raid in the West Bank’s Nur Shams camp near Tulkarem on Friday, during which three button men were killed in an Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... and festivities with troops.
The operation was carried out by the Kfir Brigade’s Haruv reconnaissance unit alongside Border Police and Shin Bet forces.
Amid the raid, Israeli forces carried out a dronezap against two button men who were firing at the troops, the IDF said. It published footage of the incident.
Also amid the operation, Haruv soldiers killed another operative who "posed a threat," the IDF said, adding that the unit also maimed several other button men.
The operation also saw Border Police officers neutralize several bombs planted under and along roads in Nur Shams.
The IDF also published drone footage of button men operating at the entrance to a hospital in Tulkarem. In the video, one gunman can be seen handing over an assault rifle to another at the medical center compound.
Amid the raid on Thursday, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini claimed that IDF bulldozers had severely damaged the UN aid agency’s office in Nur Shams, rendering it unusable.
The IDF, however, issued a statement denying responsibility for any damage sustained to the building.
"The claim that the UNRWA offices in Nur Shams were destroyed by IDF soldiers is false," the statement read. "Terrorists planted explosives in the proximity of the UNRWA offices that were then detonated in an attempt to harm IDF soldiers. The explosives likely caused damage to the structure."
The raid in Nur Shams was launched shortly after troops operating in the West Bank city of Tulkarem killed prominent Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... member Hussam al-Malah.
lIn a joint statement, the IDF, Israel Police and the Shin Bet said that al-Malah was involved in planning imminent terror attacks with Islam Odeh and Zahi Oufi, two Hamas operatives killed by Israel in separate incidents in recent weeks. The three, along with other members of a Hamas network in Tulkarem, were allegedly planning a major terror attack on the October 7 anniversary. The military said that after Odeh and Oufi were killed, al-Malah continued to lead the Hamas network and worked to plan imminent attacks in recent days.
Since October 7, troops have arrested some 5,250 wanted Paleostinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,050 affiliated with Hamas.
According to the Paleostinian Authority health ministry, more than 716 West Bank Paleostinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were button men killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or hard boyz carrying out attacks.
During the same period, 41 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another six members of the security forces were killed in festivities with terror operatives in the West Bank.
The IDF has carried out more than 70 airstrikes in the West Bank since October 7, using drones, attack helicopters, and fighter jets.
[IsraelTimes] Iran says it is committed to the destruction of Israel and supports terrorist groups throughout the Middle East in pursuit of that goal.
Axios reported late on Thursday that Israeli intelligence suggests Iran is preparing to attack Israel from Iraqi territory in the coming days, possibly before the US presidential election on November 5, citing two unidentified Israeli sources.
There was no immediate Iraqi comment.
Sudani’s government has not been successful in a push to convince the Islamic Resistance in Iraq — a coalition of Iran-backed militias and terror groups — to stop firing rockets and drones at Israel, according to four sources from Iran-backed groups and two government advisers.
Four sources from armed groups said the Kataeb Hezbollah and Nujaba groups, which are leading the attacks on Israel, have warned the prime minister against pressuring them to halt their actions and vowed to continue their attacks as long as Israel continues its operations against Hamas and Hezbollah.
The issue has divided parties in Iraq’s ruling coalition, all of whom are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and view Israel as an enemy, though some differ over how involved Iraq should be in the regional confrontation, which erupted with the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror onslaught in southern Israel.
Shiite leaders discussed the risk of repercussions from attacks on Israel and possible Israeli retaliation during two meetings in October, said Ahmed Kenani, a Shiite lawmaker from the ruling alliance.
Key players in the Shiite coalition view direct confrontation with Israel as counterproductive and potentially damaging to Iraq, according to four Shiite lawmakers.
“Those groups who have the rockets and drones should go to Gaza and Lebanon to fight Israel rather than pushing Iraq toward destruction,” Iraqi PM adviser Abdul Ameer Thuaiban said.
Kataeb Hezbollah, the most powerful of the armed factions, said Israel and the US would have to pay a price for Israel’s strikes on Iran last week.
Senior Iraqi security sources told Reuters ahead of that attack that any strike by Israel against Iran, outside what the sources called “the established rules of engagement,” could prompt pro-Iran armed groups to significantly expand their attacks on Israel and US assets in the region.
Mohammed Shummary, chairman of Baghdad-based think tank the Sumeria Foundation, said growing regional conflict risked pulling Iraq’s Shiite Muslim parties, many of them heavily armed, into a confrontation that few initially had an appetite for.
“They are torn between maintaining their decision to keep Iraq out of the confrontation and their ideological and political commitments toward the Shia of Lebanon and the broader resistance axis, amid Israeli aggression that has crossed all permissible red lines,” he told Reuters.
“If the confrontation escalates… this may not only mean the continuation of attacks on Israeli targets but also the potential involvement of additional factions in larger, more complex operations,” he said.
[GEO.TV] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US envoys on Thursday that Israel's ability to counter threats to its security from Lebanon and return displaced people to the north were key elements of any ceasefire deal with Lebanon.
"The main issue is... Israel's ability and determination to enforce the agreement and thwart any threat to its security from Lebanon," Netanyahu's office cited him as telling two US envoys.
The envoys, Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein, were in Israel on a new push to secure ceasefires in both Lebanon and Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2024
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#2
After 9/11 our military found that the IC was useless as a source of info during military ops in c.f. Iraq. So they ramped up their own program, with GEN Flynn taking the lead and facing the fury of the Beltway. Thiel's Palantir helped them enormously, again working around a massively costly, late, and ponderous Army info system that embedded top down control of analyses.
#5
....with GEN Flynn taking the lead and facing the fury of the Beltway.
Yes, they hated Flynn and thouht not much better of Alexander and Zippy. Distributed Common Ground System Army (DCGS-A) was a costly contractor dependent abortion.
I'll stop short of calling Palantir an analytical penicillin, but the young troops certainly thought highly of it, and where is the proprietary POS DCGS-A today? Spit.
Article Linked Is Available Only Via VPN.
[EngMilRu] From 26 October to 1 November, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have launched 44 group strikes by high-precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles. Russian troops have hit Ukrainian power facilities that provided support for military industry enterprises, the infrastructure of military airfields and railway communication routes used by the AFU for the transfer of Western-made weapons and hardware.
In addition, a UAV Command Centre of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a production facility and storage area of attack drones, ammunition depots, POL bases as well as temporary deployment areas of AFU manpower, nationalist formations and foreign mercenaries have been eliminated.
Over the past week, the units of the Sever Group of Forces continued to eliminate AFU formations in Kursk region.
Aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, and artillery have inflicted fire damage on manpower and hardware of a tank brigade, six mechanised brigades, three air assault brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a marine brigade, four territorial defence brigades, and two national guard brigades.
In Kharkov direction, units of a mechanised brigade, a motorised infantry brigade, and three territorial defence brigades of the AFU have been hit.
Over the past week, the enemy losses were over 2,810 troops, three tanks, eight infantry fighting vehicles, including Swedish-made CV-90 vehicle, one U.S.-made Stryker armoured personnel carrier, and 59 other armoured fighting vehicles.
In addition, two U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS systems launchers, 38 field artillery guns, including five U.S. 155-mm Paladin self-propelled artillery systems, and 114 motor vehicles have been eliminated.
The units of the Zapad Group of Forces have liberated Kruglyakovka (Kharkov region).
Russian troops have inflicted fire damage on manpower and hardware of six mechanised brigades, one assault brigade, and one airmobile brigade of the AFU, two territorial defence brigades, and two national guard brigades. In addition, 35 counterattacks launched by AFU assault detachments have been repelled.
The AFU losses were more than 3,620 troops, six U.S.-made M113 armoured personnel carriers, 16 other armoured fighting vehicles, 31 motor vehicles, 26 field artillery guns, 14 of them manufactured by NATO countries, 12 electronic and counter-battery warfare stations as well as 16 field ammunition depots.
As a result of active operations by units of the Yug Group of Forces, Aleksandropol and Katerinovka (Donetsk People's Republic) have been liberated.
Russian troops have launched strikes on formations of two tank brigades, six mechanised brigades, one motorised infantry brigade, one infantry brigade, one assault brigade, one mountain assault brigade, one airmobile brigade, and one air assault brigade, one territorial defence brigade and one national guard brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Ten counterattacks launched by AFU assault detachments have been repelled.
The enemy losses were more than 5,390 troops, two tanks, including one German-made Leopard tank, two U.S.-made M-113 armoured personnel carriers, eight other armoured fighting vehicles, and 51 motor vehicles.
One U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS system launcher, 32 field artillery guns, including 15 Western-made ones, six electronic warfare stations, and 14 field ammunition depots have been neutralised.
The units of the Tsentr Group of Forces continued advancing into the depths of enemy defences and liberated Selidovo, Gornyak, Tsukurino, Leonidovka, and Izmaylovka (Donetsk People's Republic).
Strikes have been delivered at manpower and hardware of seven mechanised brigades, one motorised infantry brigade, two infantry brigades, one jaeger brigade, one airborne brigade, one naval infantry brigade, four territorial defence brigades, and two national guard brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Russian servicemen have repelled 72 enemy counterattacks.
Over the past week, the enemy losses were up to 3,840 troops, 20 armoured fighting vehicles, including two Swedish-made Viking armoured personnel carriers, 23 motor vehicles, and 33 field artillery guns.
The units of the Vostok Group of Forces have liberated Dobrovolye, Novoukrainka, Shakhterskoye, and Yasnaya Polyana (Donetsk People's Republic).
Russian units have engaged formations of a mechanised brigade, a motorised infantry brigade, two territorial defence brigades, and one national guard brigade.
The AFU losses were up to 840 troops, three tanks, eight armoured fighting vehicles, including one U.S.-made M113 armoured personnel carrier, 50 motor vehicles, 15 field artillery guns, including 10 self-propelled artillery systems and 155-mm howitzers made by NATO countries.
The units of the Dnepr Group of Forces have engaged manpower and hardware of the AFU two mechanised brigades, one infantry brigade, one mountain assault brigade, one naval infantry brigade, and five territorial defence brigades.
The AFU losses were up to 500 troops, 27 motor vehicles, and 11 field artillery guns. 11 electronic and counter-battery warfare stations and six field ammunition depots have been eliminated.
Air defence facilities have shot down seven ATACMS operational missiles and 26 U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS projectiles, nine French-made converted Hammer aerial bombs, one S-200 anti-aircraft guided missile converted to hit ground targets, and 815 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles.
During the week, 54 Ukrainian servicemen have surrendered on the line of contact.
In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 647 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 35,119 unmanned aerial vehicles, 585 anti-aircraft missile systems, 19,012 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,482 MLRS combat vehicles, 17,158 field artillery guns and mortars, and 27,898 units of support military vehicles have been neutralised.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the operation to neutralise an enemy group, which broke into the territory of Kursk region.
The units of the Sever Group of Forces continued offensive actions and inflicted losses on formations of 22nd, 41st, 115th Mechanised brigades, the 17th Tank Brigade, 82nd, 95th Air Assault brigades, the 36th Naval Infantry Brigade, 103rd, 112th, and 129th Territorial Defence brigades of the AFU near Daryino, Nizhny Klin, Nikolayevo-Daryino, Novoivanovka, and Plyokhovo.
The Group's units repelled six enemy counter-attacks in the direction of Novoivanovka and Plyokhovo. The AFU losses were up to 50 troops killed and wounded, two armoured fighting vehicles, and one motor vehicles. One AFU serviceman surrendered.
Army Aviation and artillery inflicted fire damage on clusters of manpower and hardware of 21st, 41st, 47th, and 61st Mechanised brigades, the 17th Tank Brigade, 80th, 82nd, and 95th Air Assault brigades, the 36th Naval Infantry Brigade as well as the 1st Special Operations Brigade, 112th, 129th Territorial Defence brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the 17th National Guard Brigade of Ukraine near Aleksandriya, Viktorovka, Guyevo, Daryino, Pervy Knyazhy, Kolmakov, Kruglenkoye, Lebedevka, Leonidovo, Malaya Loknya, Martynovka, Melovoy, Nikolayevo-Daryino, Nikolsky, Novoivanovka, Novy Put, Plyokhovo, Pravda, Sverdlikovo, Sudzha and Cherkasskoye Porechnoye.
Operational-Tactical Aviation and Missile Troops delivered strikes at concentration area in Sumy region and reserves of 21st, 41st, 61st, 115th Mechanised brigades, the 17th Tank Brigade, the 95th Air Assault Brigade, and the 129th Territorial Defence Brigade of the AFU near Alekseyevka, Basovka, Belovody, Vodolagi, Katerinovka, Miropolye, Pavlovka and Khoten.
The AFU losses were more than 250 troops, three armoured fighting vehicles as well as six artillery guns, including one French-made Caesar self-propelled artillery system, one mortar, one anti-aircraft missile system, and nine motor vehicles. One AFU serviceman surrendered.
Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk region, the AFU losses were more than 28,850 troops, 180 tanks, 101 infantry fighting vehicles, 106 armoured personnel carriers, 1,062 armoured fighting vehicles, 777 motor vehicles, 254 artillery guns, 40 MLRS launchers, including 11 of HIMARS and six of MLRS made by the USA, ten anti-aircraft missile launchers, seven transport-loading vehicles, 58 EW stations, 12 counter-battery warfare radars, four air defence radars, 25 of engineering and other materiel, 13 counterobstacle vehicles, one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, five armoured recovery vehicles, and one command post vehicle.
The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.
[Behind The Black] According to a report from Bloomberg news today, Boeing has now dismantled its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) division, with its head leaving the company.
Staff from Boeing’s DEI office will be combined with another human resources team focused on talent and employee experience, according to people familiar with the matter. Sara Liang Bowen, a Boeing vice president who led the now-defunct department, left the company on Thursday. [emphasis mine]
The highlighted phrase above tells us all we need to know. The focus under Boeing’s new CEO Kelly Ortberg will be "talent and employee experience," not skin color or gender.
Bowen wrote the following in announcing her dismissal:
It has been the privilege of my lifetime to lead Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at the Boeing company these past 5+ years. Our team strived every day to support the evolving brilliance and creativity of our workforce. The team achieved so much — sometimes imperfectly, never easily — and dreamed of doing much more still. [emphasis mine]
As far as I can tell, all that Bowen accomplished was to destroy the reputation of Boeing as a quality manufacturer of aerospace products. Instead, it became a place which hired people based on their race, and didn’t care if they knew the difference between a screwdriver and a forklift. The screen capture to the right comes from the company’s 2024 Boeing Sustainability & Social Impact Report [pdf], which is still online, as is the webpage of Boeing’s DEI division. Both still tout the racist quota goals of this DEI department that forced the company to consider race and gender above talent and experience in its hiring. Hopefully that ugliness will vanish soon as well.
Meanwhile, Boeing union employees on the west coast are about to vote on a third contract proposal, having rejected the previous two and going on strike since mid-September. I suspect the decision above to get rid of this poisonous DEI department will sit well with those union employees, and likely help to encourage them to approve the plan.
#7
#1 ...What this tells me is that DEI may have had a lot more to do with the problems at Boeing than anybody was letting on.
Mike
You have no idea how on the money you are. Everyone just got a quarterly review so we will see how the new outsider CEO swings the ax. At least 17,000 will head out the door starting November 17.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] Khusein Medov and Dzhabrail Aushev were arrested on charges of illegal arms and explosives trafficking. The investigation links them to the recognized terrorist militant wing of the Ingush vird Batalkhadzhintsy and the weapons used in the terrorist attack in "Crocus". Two more residents of Ingushetia have been declared wanted.
Was every local troublemaking Moslem group involved in that project? The Russian authorities started with ISIS, added a Ukraine connection, and then it spread from there.
As reported by the "Caucasian Knot", on March 22, armed men broke into the Crocus City Hall concert hall in Krasnogorsk near Moscow, opened fire and set it on fire. According to official data, 145 people were killed in the terrorist attack, the FSB classified the incident as a terrorist attack. Eleven people were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the terrorist attack. The terrorist attack in Krasnogorsk was the largest in the Moscow region in 30 years. From 1999 until the events at Crocus City Hall, there had been five terrorist attacks there, each killing more than 40 people. Before the terrorist attack at Crocus, the largest number of deaths, 130 people, was attributed to the seizure of the Theater Center on Dubrovka.
Two alleged accomplices in the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert hall in the Moscow region, Aushev and Medov, have been arrested in Moscow on charges of illegal trafficking of weapons and explosives, RIA Novosti reported today.
"The court granted the investigator's motion to extend the preventive measure in the form of detention for Aushev D.M. and Medov Kh.A.," the agency quoted data from the card index of the Basmanny District Court of Moscow.
The new defendants in the case of the terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall are residents of Ingushetia. Two of them have been arrested, and two more have been put on the wanted list. According to the investigation, they may be connected with the already recognized terrorist and banned by the court militant wing of the Batalkhadzhin vird. They converted blank-firing Kalashnikov assault rifles into combat ones and armed them with them along with cartridges to the terrorists who directly attacked the concert hall visitors, Kommersant reported today.
Batal-Khadzhi Belkhoroev is an Ingush sheikh, the founder of one of the Kadirite branches (virds), a follower of Sheikh Kunta-Khadzhi, according to the report "Batal-Khadzhi and His Followers" prepared by the "Caucasian Knot ". The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, declared the Batal-Khadzhi people his brothers after a wave of arrests in the fall of 2022. On November 3, 2022, he stood up for the Belkharoev family. Kadyrov stated that the term "Batal-Khadzhi terrorist society" is absurd, and the Belkharoevs will always be his close brothers. In February 2023, the FSB included the militant wing of the Ingush vird of the Batal-Khadzhi people in the list of terrorist organizations.
The defendants in the criminal case are natives of the Ingush village of Surkhakhi, Khusein Medov, Dzhabrail Aushev and Khavazh-Bagaudin Aliyev, as well as Batyr Kulayev from Ekazhevo. Their criminal case in the central office of the investigative department has already been combined with the case of the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall, and they are accused of illegal circulation of weapons and ammunition (part 5 of article 222 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and explosive devices (part 3 of article 222.1). FSB and criminal investigation officers detained Medov and Aushev in Ingushetia, from where they were taken to Moscow. Two of their fellow countrymen have been declared wanted.
The investigation suggests that a few weeks before the terrorist attack, the Tajik nationals contacted residents of Ingushetia through accomplices. At the request of the Tajiks, 32-year-old Khusein Medov obtained four blank-firing Kalashnikov assault rifles through his own channels, which he converted into live ones at home. 27-year-old Batyr Kulaev gave his fellow countryman magazines for the Kalashnikov assault rifles and cartridges, which were used by the terrorists in the Crocus. 23-year-old Dzhabrail Aushev and 31-year-old Khavazh-Bagaudin Aliyev delivered the weapons and ammunition to caches near the villages of Ekazhevo and Surkhakhi, sending their coordinates to the customers. They were taken from the caches by intermediaries, who, in addition to the four assault rifles, brought 68 magazines and more than 2,000 cartridges. Most of the magazines were loaded before being sent, which, according to the investigation, confirms that the alleged members of the Ingush link of the terrorist group knew what they were planning to do. According to the testimony of the persons involved in the investigation, they were paid more than 1 million rubles for the weapons and ammunition.
On November 1, the Basmanny District Court extended the pre-trial detention of Medov and Aushev until December 22. The hearing was listed as open in the Moscow City Court database, but after the court had only established the identities of the defendants, the trial was closed. Introducing themselves to the court, Dzhabrail Aushev and Khusein Medov said that they were unemployed with secondary education. Medov is a disabled person of the second group due to bronchial asthma.
After the trial, representatives of the accused said that they denied their participation in the terrorist attack, but admitted involvement in the illegal circulation of weapons and ammunition, stating that they worked only with intermediaries, and therefore could not imagine who would end up with the guns and how they would be used.
According to the investigation, the members of the militant wing of the Batal-Khadzhi Belkhoroev religious movement, which is recognized as terrorist and banned in Russia, are connected not only with adherents of extremist movements in Islam, but also with Ukrainian special services. This fits in with the version about the Ukrainian trace in the case of the terrorist attack in Crocus, which was previously made public by the leadership of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation and the FSB, the publication says.
[JustTheNews] The Pentagon on Friday announced that the United States was sending more B-52 bombers, fighter jets, and Navy destroyers to the Middle East as the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Group gets ready to leave the region.
The new deployments come as Israel continues its war with Hamas and its backer, Iran. The conflict has not shown any signs of slowing, even as the United States urges both sides to reach a ceasefire, or after Hamas faced multiple losses in its leadership in recent months.
Pentagon spokesperson Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder did not indicate how many U.S. troops would be stationed in the Middle East, but warned Iran and its allies not to attack U.S. forces.
"Should Iran, its partners, or its proxies use this moment to target American personnel or interests in the region, the United States will take every measure necessary to defend our people," Ryder said in a statement reported by Reuters.
[GEO.TV] OpenAI has beefed up its ChatGPT generative AI chatbot with search engine capabilities, as the startup takes on Google's decades-long dominance of web search.
The upgrade enables users to receive "fast, timely answers" with links to relevant web sources — information that previously required using a traditional search engine, the company said.
The significant upgrade to ChatGPT enables the AI chatbot to provide real-time information from across the web.
ChatGPT's homepage can now also offer direct tabs to sourced material on topics ranging from weather forecasts and stock prices to sports scores and breaking news, the company said.
These would link to news and data from providers that have signed content deals with OpenAI, including La Belle France's Le Monde, Germany's Axel Springer and the United Kingdom's Financial Times.
Examples of the new interface shown on the OpenAI website closely resembled search results on Google and Google Maps, though without the clutter of advertising.
Rather than launching a separate product, OpenAI has integrated search directly into ChatGPT for paying subscribers, though this will be expanded to users that use the free version of the chatbot.
Users can enable the search feature by default or activate it manually via a web search icon.
The company added that any website or publisher can opt-in to appear in ChatGPT's search results, with OpenAI actively seeking feedback from content creators to refine the system further.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote Thursday on X that search is his "favorite feature we have launched" on ChatGPT since the bot's debut in 2022.
"I find it to be a way faster/easier way to get the information I'm looking for," Altman added on Reddit.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2024
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Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 22:03 Ukraine is capable of producing even more shells, but it lacks explosives, Minister for Strategic Industries German Smetanin told Reuters: "The main problem we have now is gunpowder and explosives. We will have as many shells as the explosives that come to Ukraine." According to him, this shortage is global.
21:57 Poland is offering to sell weapons to Ukraine on credit, said the country's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski: "This could have been done from the very beginning: here you go, buy from Polish factories on credit, and when you recover, you will pay back."
21:34 Hungarian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mate Paczolai stated that Budapest will not include its NATO membership in the agreement with Kiev: "We have made it clear to the Ukrainian side that Ukraine's intention to join NATO cannot be part of this agreement."
21:28 Russian troops attacked a residential area in Sumy with a drone: a nine-story building was damaged, five people were injured, the prosecutor's office reported.
19:35 The White House announced a new $425 million military aid package for Ukraine. It included, in particular:
BC for NASAMS air defense missile system;
Stinger MANPADS;
counter-UAV equipment;
air-to-ground munitions;
BC for HIMARS;
155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition;
TOW ATGM;
Javelin and AT-4 ATGMs;
Stryker APC;
small arms and ammunition, etc.
19:24 Russians have launched two missile strikes on a police station in Kharkiv: one policeman was killed and 26 others were wounded , said Ivan Vyhovsky, head of the National Police. Four civilians were also wounded. OVA head Oleh Sinegubov specified that the enemy used S-300 missiles, damaging 20 private and apartment buildings.
17:20 Russians hit Kharkov with ballistics, one hit a residential building. Two people suffered an acute stress reaction, said OVA chief Oleg Sinegubov.
15:07 The Russian army has captured the largest territory since the beginning of the year in a week - more than 200 sq. km, Bloomberg writes. The agency added that this entailed huge losses of Russian troops and equipment.
13:29 The DPRK promises to "stand firmly next to" Russia in the war against Ukraine, said the country's Foreign Minister Choi Son Hee. According to her, Kim Jong-un gave instructions "without looking back at anyone" to consistently support and assist the Russian army in the "holy war."
12:18 A water leak occurred from an impulse line at the Zaporizhzhya NPP, repair work is currently underway, the IAEA reported. "The Agency will continue to closely monitor this issue. Although we do not see any immediate problems for nuclear safety," said Director General Rafael Grossi.
10:46 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit the European Union in December for the first time since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the minister will take part in a meeting of OSCE foreign ministers in Malta on December 5-6.
09:50 In October 2024, Russia attacked Ukraine with 2,023 Shahed-type attack UAVs and other unmanned aerial vehicles of an unknown type, the General Staff reported. Of these, 1,185 were destroyed or suppressed, 738 were lost, and another 29 UAVs left Ukrainian airspace. Since the beginning of the year, the enemy has launched 6,987 attack UAVs at Ukraine. The strikes primarily targeted civilian and critical infrastructure.
09:41 Canada is trying to convince other countries to allow Ukraine to carry out long-range strikes on Russian territory, said the country's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly: "We approve of Ukraine's use of long-range weapons against targets on Russian territory, since Ukraine needs this for self-defense. We are also trying to convince other countries to take this position."
09:36 In Svetlograd, Stavropol Krai, a drone fell on an oil depot; there were no casualties, Governor Vladimir Vladimirov said. In Bryansk, one person was injured as a result of a drone attack on a multi-story building, Governor Alexander Bogomaz said. The Russian Defense Ministry said that air defense intercepted and destroyed 83 drones overnight: 36 over Kursk Oblast, 20 over Bryansk, 12 over Crimea, eight over Voronezh, four over Oryol, and three over Belgorod.
08:59 In the evening, Russians attacked the Kievsky district of Kharkov, two people were injured, reported the head of the OVA Oleg Sinegubov. Three more people were wounded as a result of enemy shelling in the city of Dergachi. In Kupyansk, as a result of shelling, one person was killed, in the village of Kucherivka in the Kupyansky district, one person was wounded.
08:47 In the Kherson region, over the past day, as a result of Russian shelling, one person was killed and 13 were injured, reported the head of the OVA, Oleksandr Prokudin.
08:35 Air defense destroyed 31 of 48 Russian drones (Shahed attack type and unspecified type) in Kirovograd, Kyiv, Cherkasy, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytsky, Sumy, Chernihiv, Odessa and Poltava regions at night, the Air Force reported. Another 14 drones were lost, three flew off in the direction of Belarus.
In addition, during the night attack, the enemy used three Kh-59/69 guided air missiles. One of them was shot down, the rest did not reach their targets due to active counteraction. Russian tactical aviation also struck Kharkiv, Sumy and Zaporizhia regions with guided air bombs. As a result of falling debris, several civilian enterprises were damaged, as well as apartment buildings and private houses in Poltava, Cherkasy, Kyiv and Odessa regions.
08:23 In Donetsk region on October 31 as a result of Russian shelling two people were wounded - in Kurakhovo and Dronovka, reported the head of the OVA Vadim Filashkin.
07:56 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of November 1:
personnel - about 696,410 (+1,460) people,
tanks - 9162 (+6),
combat armored vehicles - 18,470 (+20),
artillery systems - 20,039 (+26),
MLRS - 1244 (+1),
air defense systems - 994 (+0),
aircraft - 369 (+0),
helicopters - 329 (+0),
Operational-tactical level UAVs - 18,088 (+25),
cruise missiles - 2628 (+1),
ships/boats - 28 (+0),
submarines - 1 (+0),
automotive equipment and tank trucks - 28,038 (+77),
special equipment - 3579 (+9).
06:18 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) writes in its report that the Russians have begun using "shaheds" with thermobaric warheads. Analysts cite a study by the Kiev Research Institute of Forensic Expertise, which examined the wreckage of Shahed-136 drones used in Russian attacks from October 26 to 29. The results of the study indicate that Russian troops have modified the attack drones to install thermobaric warheads on them.
00:52 Seoul's decision to provide weapons to Kiev will depend on the level of involvement of North Korean forces in Russia's war against Ukraine, said South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul. "We need to see the level of involvement of North Korean forces in Russia, and what North Korea will get from Russia... So we will have to look at this before making a decision on providing weapons to Ukraine," he explained.
00:13 A ministerial conference on the human dimension of the Formula for Peace was held in Montreal, Canada, where participants adopted a joint communiqué on the return of all captured and deported Ukrainians, the Office of the President reported. "The communiqué reflects a common set of principles that the conference participants will be guided by in the future, demonstrates unwavering support for Ukraine's victory, and condemns any country that helps Russia carry out its aggression," the statement said.
In particular, the conference participants agreed to strengthen Ukraine's cooperation with partners and international organizations to resolve humanitarian issues and ensure compliance with the Geneva Conventions. One of the points is to find trusted mediator countries for negotiations with the Russian Federation on the return home of Ukrainian military personnel, civilians, and children.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Police detected a pulse on homeless man Jordan Neely
...the homeless schizophrenic who had 40 prior arrests including for violent attacks, and was loudly working himself up to attack riders in that subway car — in part because of the overly interesting drugs in his bloodstream — when Mr. Penny interrupted...
after he was put in a chokehold by Marine veteran Daniel Penny, bombshell new bodycam footage reveals.
The video became public today as Penny's manslaughter trial began in Manhattan.
Penny, then 24, is accused of killing Neely by putting him in what prosecutors say was a fatal chokehold. The May 1st 2023 incident sparked uproar in America - BLM says it was the racist killing of a mentally ill black man by an overzealous white military faithful. Others say Penny is a hero, a modern-day batman who stepped in when Neely made aggressive threats on the subway, including to a toddler boy whose mother shielded him with a stroller.
During opening statements today, bodycam footage of the moment cops found Neely was shown.
NYPD officers arrived on the train at Fulton Station at 2.33pm. Two police officers confirmed that Neely still had a pulse when they arrived.
'I got a pulse,' one said. A second police officer confirmed that he too felt a pulse.
Neely was unconscious, lying on the subway car floor. When asked how Neely ended up there, Penny replied: 'I put him out.'
Despite initially detecting a pulse, they issued Narcan - the drug used to reverse opioid overdoses - to Neely - and started CPR at 2.38pm. Paramedics from Northwell Health arrived on the train at 2.48pm - 15 minutes after the police. At 3.13pm - almost 45 minutes after police first arrived - Neely was still on the train, by then surrounded by paramedics. The bodycam released by the court today ends then.
He was not pronounced dead until he arrived at Lenox Health Hospital in Greenwich Village later that afternoon.
Among witnesses on the first day of evidence was an NYPD Sergeant who testified that none of his team performed mouth-to-mouth on Neely because he was a 'drug user'.
'He seemed to be a drug user.. he was an apparent drug user. He was very dirty. I didn’t want them to get… hepatitis.
'If he did wake up he would have been vomiting. I didn’t want my officers to do that.
'He was filthy. He looked like a homeless individual. You have to protect your officer,
'I wouldn’t want my officer to get sick if the person throws up,' he said.
'He quite literally, went for the jugular,' Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran said.
The prosecution accepted that Neely had been 'menacing' passengers on the train. But she said the entire exchange, from the time Neely got on the train, to the time the doors opened at the next station, lasted just 30 seconds. It was Penny’s choice to keep Neely restrained for a further five minutes and 53 seconds that formed the basis of the state’s case.
Yoran told jurors that another man who helped to get Neely to the ground repeatedly told Penny that he could let go because he had a strong grip of his arms.
‘The defendant has specialized training in chokeholds. A person passes out and you have to immediately let go… a green belt Marine is taught, and clearly knows.
‘He pushed Mr Neely to the point of no return, certain to die. When he did let go, he left Neely on the floor and didn’t look back. He picked up his hat, dusted himself off, and stood over his body.’
Yoran said Penny’s defense that he was acting to protect other, vulnerable passengers on the train can’t be considered beyond the point that all the passengers had fled the train.
Two stayed with him, helping to restrain the crazy guy, until police officers arrived, as it turns out.
‘[The level of force] may have been reasonable initially, [Neely’s behavior] would justify an initial use of force. But at the point that Penny killed Mr Neely, there was no one to protect. At that point there was no excuse or justification for the deadly use of physical force.’
While the state intends to argue that Penny never let up the initial pressure he placed on Neely’s neck, the defense insists he made several attempts to loosen his grip, and that only had a light hold on Neely by the time he stopped fighting back.
‘This struggle did last five to six minutes. But Danny was not, and could not, have been squeezing his neck. We know that because if he was, Neely would have passed out in the first minute,’ Kenniff said.
Opening statements began on Friday after a grueling two-week process of selecting the 12-person jury.
An initial search was conducted of Neely’s body and jacket, which was nearby. No weapons were found, and the only possession he had at the time was a muffin stuffed into his jacket pocket.
Police initially felt a faint pulse, and a shot of Narcan was administered. Once the pulse disappeared, officers began performing CPR, and then issued another shot of Narcan. At no point did Neely regain consciousness.
Kenniff argued that Penny had only intended to intervene until police could come and take over.
‘Something that took way longer than expected,’ he said.
From the time police received the dispatch call, it took seven minutes for first responders to arrive. It was then another 10 minutes before emergency services arrived with a defibrillator and more resources.
‘Danny was desperately waiting for police to show up and help him the way he had helped other passengers on this train,’ Kenniff said.
The trial is expected to last up to six weeks, and will call upon medical experts, first responders, and other passengers who were on the train that day.
Kenniff said that Penny was pleading with fellow passengers to call police and that he kept holding Neely because the man periodically flailed or tried to get up.
That doesn’t sound like indifference to me. Not even manslaughter-level indifference.
Related: The GiveSendGo fund for Mr. Penny’s legal expenses is still active here.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] A flurry of earthquakes have rattled California's Death Valley, raising concerns that a bigger more devastating one could be imminent.
Since October 9, 130 quakes have struck the National Park, according to USGS geophysicist Elizabeth Cochran.
The largest ones occurred on October 25, clocking in at magnitudes 4.7 and 4.5.
The spate of tremors has not caused any damage in the park or to nearby towns and cities but the shaking has been felt 150miles away in Las Vegas.
The park's fault system is known for its intense seismic activity, producing earthquakes up to magnitude 7.
This cluster of earthquakes, considered a 'swarm', aren't necessarily unusual, but experts have raised concerns that this uptick in activity could mean a bigger quake is coming.
'That level of shaking is something we carefully monitor, as it could significantly impact the Las Vegas valley,' Christie Rowe, Director of the Nevada Seismological Lab at the University of Nevada, Reno, told KTNV Las Vegas.
Earthquake clusters are common in Nevada, but 'they do increase our alert levels because sometimes a larger earthquake follows,' Rowe said.
And when one cluster dies down, another usually isn't far behind, she said, explaining that this pattern of activity tends to continue along the California-Nevada border or on central Nevada.
Death Valley has a history of producing major earthquakes.
In 2019, a magnitude 7.1 tremblor struck an area just 30 miles away from this current swarm, leaving a deep crack in the ground near Ridgecrest, California, that has since become a local tourist attraction.
Three main fault lines run through Death Valley: the Northern Death Valley Fault Zone (NDVFZ), the Black Mountains Fault Zone (BMFZ), and the Southern Death Valley Fault Zone (SDVFZ).
These two states see the second and fourth most earthquakes in the US annually.
Earthquake clusters in California often spark fears of The Big One - a hypothetical high-magnitude quake that experts say could strike at any time along the San Andreas fault. But there's no reason to believe that this recent swarm of earthquakes could cause instability in San Andreas fault, or that it could trigger The Big One.
#2
I know she's high or drunk a lot of the time but Wonder Hussy does live in Death Valley, makes 2 or more videos a week about what's happening in Death Valley and makes no mention of noticing earthquakes. I know that booze and dope might cause one to not notice a real lurch but...
[IsraelTimes] Top Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... official Izz al-Din Kassab was killed in an Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... earlier today in the southern Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip, the IDF and Shin Bet announce.
Kasab was one of the last remaining members of Hamas’s political bureau, where he served as head of national relations.
According to the military, he was responsible for coordination between Hamas and the other terror groups in Gaza.
"Kassab was a significant source of power and, by virtue of his role, was responsible for the organization’s strategic and military relations with other factions in the Gaza Strip. He held the authority to direct the execution of terror attacks against the State of Israel," the IDF says in a statement.
According to the IDF, Kassab’s assistant, Ayman Ayesh, was also killed in the strike.
The military releases footage of the strike, which took place in the Khan Younis area.
The Cathedral of Milan, which is approximately 1000 years old, was invaded by thousands of Muslim immigrants. There are no tourists around, no women, no children, no Europeans. Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/uQhZmDNfTz
#3
As noted previously, starting in the early nineteen nineties a mosque in Milan served as a major European outpost for the Al Qaeda. It served as a bank for the Islamists, and it remains a center of European Islamism to this date.
Posted by: Albert Pelosi3459 ||
11/02/2024 9:57
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#5
This is what conquest looks like-restrained only by the taqqiyah pretense of "coexistence" as the aim of Islam.
Conquest of the west is their goal, by immigration alone it seems as Europe largely is committing cultural suicide rather than embrace their past glory. In America, perhaps the next few days may signal signs of sanity at last?
Up to 600 people were involved in the Poitiers battle following the shootout
Shots were fired at a kebab shop in the city overnight
Five teens were seriously injured, with one in a state of 'brain death'
A massive shootout linked to drug trafficking has left a teenager and four others, including two teenage girls, seriously wounded in western France, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said on Friday, in the latest such gunfight to injure children.
The shootout erupted in front of a Poitiers restaurant, reportedly the 'L'Othentik' kebab shop, overnight after shots were 'fired from a passing car injuring a number of people', the minister said.
French police told Le Figaro that 'at least 12' bullet holes, believed to have been 22-calibre rounds, were seen on the facade of the restaurant, while weapons were found at the scene.
'We are at a tipping point and the choice we have today is a choice between general mobilisation or the Mexicanisation of the country.’
'What started as a shooting at a restaurant ended up in a fight between rival gangs that involved several hundred people', Retailleau said.
Cops said that between 400 and 600 people were involved in the violence that escalated in the aftermath of the shootout, which reportedly came 'against a backdrop of tensions between the Maghreb and Guadeloupean communities.'
Oboy. The Maghreb means the jihadi-narco trafficking nexus of Al Qaeda in North Africa, while the overseas department of Guadeloupe…actually, I have no idea what that’s all about. Probably analogous to Puerto Rico or Guam or something.
The 15-year-old boy who was shot in the head was between life and death, he said.
French newspaper Le Parisien reported that the boy's family has been informed that he was left in a state of 'brain death', after he was rushed to the nearby Poitiers University Hospital.
The newspaper also reported that the other four injured, three 16-year-olds and another 15-year-old, were also rushed to hospital after they suffered shots to the shoulder, head, ankle and feet, though they are in a less serious condition.
Cops were 'set upon' by '80 to 100' people in the crowd, and were forced to arrest dozens to restore calm by around 2:30am.
Police in the city said they were sending reinforcements to calm tensions.
The minister warned that the country was at a 'tipping point' when it came to drug trafficking violence.
'These shootings are not happening in South America, they are happening in Rennes, in Poitiers, in this part of western France once known for its tranquility', he starkly said.
'We are at a tipping point and the choice we have today is a choice between general mobilisation or the Mexicanisation of the country,' he said, citing Mexico's deep problem with cartel violence.
Léonore Moncond'huy, the mayor of Poitiers, said the incident was 'a new episode of violence unacceptable for the neighbourhood'.
Pictures from the scene in Place Coimbra, an area of the city known for drug-related crimes, showed the restaurant's facade riddled with bullet holes.
The shooting then triggered fighting between rival gang groups in the area, according to police.
"Tensions between groups broke out, requiring the intervention of the police and the gendarmerie," Vienne regional police said in a statement.
Retailleau said "400 to 600" people were at the scene, though it is not clear how many of those were directly involved.
He was scheduled to visit Rennes, the capital of Brittany, on Friday following the shooting on 26 October, in which a five-year-old boy sitting in a car was shot in the head. Authorities confirmed the shooting was also drug-related.
The drug trade in France has long been viewed as centred in the southern port city of Marseille, where at least 17 drug-related killings have been reported since the start of the year.
But researchers say the influence of drug trafficking in France in recent years has spread beyond the main hubs of Marseille and Paris to medium-sized towns and even rural areas.
#7
Guadeloupe, where les garçons go sunning,
Grows coconuts, lazy but cunning,
A bit like the Haitians
If France had had patience
Instead of just raping and running.
#8
A long walk... as the crow flies. Ou, "Coucou!"
Ooh la la, how les pélerins flock
To the land of la langue de TikTok
And its pelican's nest,
Licking blood from her breast
As she succors ses coqs du Maroc!
[ZeroHedge] The party of “Science” apparently misled hundreds of millions of people on the actual science surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic. Stop the presses.
Starting in early 2020, the combined efforts of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the CDC, the Department of Health and Human Services, and their partners in the media caused an untold amount of damage to society and public health and might have even created conditions for increased Covid spread. How? By repeatedly, profoundly, and often purposefully communicating inaccurate information while spending hundreds of millions of dollars to get their preferred messages across.
Now, a new, massive 113-page report from the US House of Representatives Energy & Commerce Committee has detailed the remarkable abuses from the Biden-Harris administration and the manner in which they communicated during Covid.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The decision to strike Georgian troops in August 2008, when they attacked South Ossetia and Russian peacekeepers, was made only after this information was confirmed. This was stated on November 1 by the deputy head of the Russian Security Council, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
He noted that by that time Moscow had expected aggressive actions from Georgia, whose president was then Mikhail Saakashvili, but the outbreak of war on the opening day of the Olympic Games was a surprise. After receiving information about this, Medvedev ordered the then Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov to check it.
"After some time there was another call, he (Serdyukov. - Ed. IA Regnum ) said that they were really trying to attack and even hit our peacekeepers. I had to give the order to launch a retaliatory strike, and a missile strike, on the Georgian troops," Medvedev told the RT television channel.
He recalled that after that there was a five-day war and Georgia lost relations with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. According to him, before the attack on South Ossetia, Saakashvili secured support from the United States.
Medvedev said that Western politicians called Russia's intervention in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict an invasion of Georgia, but in private conversations they admitted that this was not the case.
"They whispered in my ear: 'No, of course, we understand, he (Saakashvili. - Note from Regnum News Agency ) is crazy, he is sick, which means he did all this in vain. But, excuse me, we will not talk about this publicly,'" Medvedev said.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, in September 2024, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze admitted Saakashvili's guilt in unleashing the war with South Ossetia. The head of government named external forces as the customers of the conflict. He also stated that the former president's associates are again trying to unleash a war in the country.
Bidzina Ivanishvili, the honorary chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, said in October that a senior Western official had suggested to former Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili that he start a war with Russia. In response to the fact that the Georgian army would be defeated in a few days, the Western representative suggested resorting to guerrilla warfare.
[GEO.TV] A US envoy this week asked Lebanon to declare a unilateral ceasefire with Israel as part of an effort to help negotiations to reach a resolution for the more than year-long conflict, a senior Lebanese political source and a senior diplomat said.
The sources said the effort was communicated by US Lebanon Envoy Amos Hochstein to Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
[GEO.TV] American efforts to halt fighting between Israel and Hezbollah have failed after the US drafted an "unrealistic" ceasefire proposal and Israel's insistence on being able to enforce a truce directly, people briefed on the diplomacy told Reuters.
With no workable proposal on the table ahead of Tuesday's US presidential election, the conflict could drag on for months, according to a Lebanese political source close to Hezbollah, two diplomats and a person briefed on the talks.
[GEO.TV] At least nine people, including five schoolchildren and a policeman, were killed in a kaboom targeting security personnel guarding polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set. Currently the disease is only found in Pakistain and Afghanistain... vaccinators in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... 's Mastung district on Friday.
The incident took place near the Girls High School at the Civil Hospital Chowk in Mastung.
After being informed, police and rescue officials rushed to the scene and shifted the injured and the bodies to the hospital for medico-legal formalities. The bomb disposal squad also reached the spot soon after the earth-shattering kaboom and started collecting evidence.
In a statement, the hospital administration added that 33 injured people were undergoing treatment at DHQ and Nawab Hospital in Mastung, among which most were schoolchildren. The ages of the dear departed schoolchildren, which include girls and boys, are between 10 to 13 years old, while four coppers are among the injured.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2024
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[JustTheNews] For the first time since 2017, the Coast Guard met its recruiting goals for enlisted active duty, the Reserve, and Non-Academy officer program accessions
The military services recruited 225,000 people in fiscal year 2024 – 25,000 more recruits than last year, said Katie Helland, the Pentagon's director of military accession policy.
She pointed directly to the challenges military components will face in the coming years as they set higher recruitment goals.
"We need to remain cautiously optimistic about the future recruiting operations as we continue to recruit in a market that has low youth propensity to serve, limited familiarity with military opportunities, a competitive labor market and a declining eligibility among young adults," Helland said.
Helland noted a growing divide between civilians and the military.
"Data indicate that many of today's youth are not interested in military service and have many misperceptions about what life is like as a service member," she said.
In fact, most young people never consider signing up.
"For the first time since this metric has been tracked, the majority of youth have never even considered military service as an option," Helland said. "That is it's not even on the radar. This divide has been brought about by a confluence of many factors, including the shrinking military footprint and declining veteran presence across society."
One challenge is fewer ties to a family member who served. In 1990, 40% of young adults had a parent who served. That's down to 15%.
No mention of DEI and other woke nonsense prioritized by the current administration…
#2
In 1990, 40% of young adults had a parent who served.
In the 90's they started really pushing 'Racial Quotas' and my older brother, who did not check any of the DEI boxes, decided after four (4) boards that being a good sailor was not enough for the US Navy despite his 24+ years of good service and Vietnam Vet status. Why serve if they don't want respect your service but only your ethnicity?
The current DEI Craze is just an eventual result of promoting the 'Racial Quota' people to higher and higher levels.
#5
...actually, the Army in the 19th Century had a high proportion of foreigners, Irish and German being among the more numerous. Male German Immigrants were sometime advised to do a hitch to learn English and have relatable work experience.
[AMGREATNESS] Two of the five schools which chose to cancel and forfeit their women’s volleyball matches rather than compete against biological male player Blaire Fleming have been asked for money from San Jose State University (SJSU).
Boise State University (BSU) and Utah State University, have been asked by SJSU to pay the school $1,250 each to compensate for revenue lost when the matches were forfeited.
According to emails obtained by Outkick in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to Boise State, SJSU Athletic Director Jeff Konya wrote to BSU Athletic Director Jeremiah Dickey asking that the school pay SJSU for the forfeit.
Konya wrote:
"Your institution’s arbitrary decision not to play an otherwise eligible NCAA team has resulted in harm to SJSU financially and our institution’s brand. We estimate we missed out on approximately $1,250 in game day revenue by not playing the [match] on Saturday when you add all of the various revenue sources (i.e., concessions, parking among others). I would ask to be made whole at the very least."
SJSU confirmed to Outkick that it had asked both BSU and Utah State to pay $1,250 for the forfeited volleyball matches and that neither school had honored the request. "F*ck off"
The other three schools, Southern Utah, Wyoming and University of Nevada Reno, which chose to forfeit matches against SJSU were not asked for money because those were not home games for San Jose State, according to Outkick.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Just remember, college athletics is about the sport, not the money. Riiight.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
11/02/2024 8:24
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Supporters of former Bolivian President Evo Morales, who went out to protest, seized a military unit in Villa Tunari in the department of Cochabamba and took soldiers hostage. This was reported on November 1 by the Bolivia TV channel
The protesters demanded that the authorities stop interfering with them by stopping the operation to unblock the roads. The current president of the republic, Luis Arce, in turn, specified that Morales' supporters stormed three military facilities at once.
He noted that the authorities regard the seizure of military facilities as treason and an attack on the constitutional order. Arce added that the government will take measures aimed at restoring public order in the country. The press service of the Armed Forces of Bolivia stated that the participants in the seizure seized weapons.
Protesters in Bolivia began blocking roads 18 days ago to express their anger over rising food prices and fuel shortages.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, the Bolivian prosecutor's office is currently investigating Morales. He is suspected of corrupting a minor and human trafficking. There was also information that an arrest warrant was issued for the former president. Bolivian Deputy Minister of the Interior Roberto Rios denied this information.
On October 27, Morales released a video showing the moment when gunmen opened fire on his car. The former president claims that they were trying to detain him on orders from the government.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] North Korea will stand by Russia until its victory in Ukraine, Pyongyang's foreign minister said in Moscow Friday, as the US has warned thousands of North Korean troops could be sent to combat in the Ukraine conflict in the coming days.
North Korea's Choe Son Hui was in Moscow as the West believes up to 10,000 North Korean troops are training in Russia and on the brink of entering the more than two-year conflict on Russia's side.
US intelligence has said some of the troops have made their way to the Kursk border region, with Washington and Seoul warning North Korea to withdraw its army.
'We will always stand firmly by our Russian comrades until victory day,' Choe declared in Moscow after talks with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
She said North Korea had no doubt in the 'wise leadership' of President Vladimir Putin, who signed a mutual assistance pact with Pyongyang this summer and massively warmed ties with the reclusive state.
[FoxNews] IRS agent Gary Shapley is being threatened with a demotion or forced resignation, House lawmakers.
House Republicans are demanding answers about potential retaliation against IRS whistleblowers who brought claims of political influence in the Hunter Biden investigation to Congress.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.; Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La.; House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky.; Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; and Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., began investigating in June whether the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) contributed to alleged retaliation and a "smear campaign" against IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler.
Fox News exclusively reported on that initial letter requesting a briefing to determine whether there had been improper influence surrounding the IRS whistleblowers’ claims pending before the OSC.
But on Friday, Comer, Jordan and Smith sent another letter to the acting principal deputy special counsel, Karen Gorman, demanding answers.
The lawmakers notified Gorman that Shapley’s attorney "recently revealed that approximately one hour after an investigative journalist released an interview with the whistleblowers in which they discussed damaging evidence of the IRS’s disparate treatment of U.S. taxpayers, the IRS issued [Supervisory Special Agent] Shapley a 15-day notice to either accept a demotion or resign."
Shapley and Ziegler sat down with a journalist on Tuesday to "discuss their disclosures to Congress and how their lives have been affected by making those disclosures."
During the interview, Shapley said the IRS "has a smothering blanket on me. [They’re] hoping that I quit, that they find some way to terminate me. Or they probably hope that I commit suicide or something,’" the lawmakers wrote.
Less than an hour after the release of the interview, the IRS sent Shapley a memo informing him that he "could no longer keep his position," the lawmakers wrote.
"This reassignment appears to give SSA Shapley effectively two options: accept a demotion or resign," they wrote. "The IRS is giving SSA Shapley 15 days to decide."
They added: "This is egregious, and OSC must take immediate steps to pause this action while it examines the IRS’s decision."
The lawmakers are now requesting a "prompt" update on the OSC’s investigation into the whistleblowers' allegations and for OSC to "use its lawful authority to seek an immediate stay at the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board pausing the IRS’s latest threatening action."
"SSA Shapley’s and SA Ziegler’s whistleblowing took courage and bravery," the lawmakers wrote. "Because of their important disclosures, Americans learned how the IRS treats individuals differently based upon their last names."
Comer, Jordan and Smith reminded that Shapley and Ziegler "made lawfully protected disclosures to Congress that resulted in unrelenting personal and professional attacks on them."
"But they have not wavered," the lawmakers wrote. "As this case has rightfully garnered significant public attention, OSC must show the whistleblower community that OSC will take appropriate and immediate action to stand up for whistleblowers."
The OSC declined to comment but confirmed receipt of the letter.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the IRS for comment.
[APNEWS] A Washington state man accused of leading a wildlife trafficking ring on a Native American reservation that killed thousands of eagles and hawks to sell on the black market was sentenced Thursday to nearly four years in prison.
The trafficking ring operated for years on the Flathead Indian Reservation in northwest Montana, exploiting high demand among tribal members for feathers and other bird parts that are used in powwows and sacred ceremonies.
The defendant and others killed at least 118 eagles, 107 hawks and as many as 3,600 birds overall, prosecutors said. Almost as much as a Wind Turbine farm!
Juvenile golden eagles in particular were targeted because their black and white feathers are highly desired among Native Americans, officials said.
The poaching operation centered on the Flathead Indian Reservation in northwestern Montana, which researchers say has some of the highest concentrations of eagles and other birds of prey in the U.S. Members of the trafficking ring would set out carcasses of elk, calves and deer, and then shoot eagles that came to feed on them, officials said.
They would also shoot hawks opportunistically off of power poles and other perches.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[KHAAMA] Pakistain police have announced that a kaboom in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... province has killed seven people, including five students.
Pakistain's Dawn newspaper reported that the earth-shattering kaboom occurred around 8:30 a.m. on Friday, November 1, near a girls' school in the Mastung area of Balochistan.
Balochistan police officials stated that the earth-shattering kaboom resulted in the deaths of seven people, including five students and one security officer from the province.
According to police, 17 others, most of whom are students, were maimed in this incident.
Reports indicate that the target of the earth-shattering kaboom was a police patrol vehicle in the area.
The type of explosion has not yet been identified.
In a statement, Pakistain's Prime Minister condemned the incident, calling it a ''terrorist attack.''
Pakistain's Prime Minister condemned the incident, labeling it a ''terrorist attack'' in an official statement. However,
a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package... no individual or group has grabbed credit for the blast so far.
It is worth noting that Baloch separatist groups, designated as ''terrorist'' organizations by the Pak government, are often behind attacks and bombings in the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] Ukrainian Armed Forces Contain Russian Attacks in Eastern and Southern Ukraine.
The enemy is most actively advancing in the Kurakhovsky direction. So far, Ukrainian units have repelled 13 attacks there.
Since the beginning of the current day, 74 combat clashes have occurred on the front in seven directions. Russian aggressors continue to be active in Donbas, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported in a report as of 16:00 on Friday, November 1.
Thus, in the Kupyansk direction, the enemy tried to advance towards our positions in the Petropavlovka and Lozovaya areas twice during the day. One battle is ongoing near Lozovaya.
In the Liman direction, the enemy organized 12 assaults near Druzhelyubovka, Yekaterinovka, Grekovka, Makeyevka, Terny and in the Serebryansky forest. Four combat clashes continue.
In the Kramatorsk direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces repelled one attack near Stupochki.
In the Pokrovsk direction, the enemy attacked 21 times in the areas of Sukha Balka, Mirolyubovka, Nikolaevka, Lysovka, Krutoy Yar, Novogrodovka and Selidovoye. Two battles are still ongoing in the area of Vishnevoye.
In the Kurakhovsky direction, 24 combat clashes occurred near Ostrovsky, Ilyinka, Novoselidovka, Kremennaya Balka, Novodmitrovka, Volchenka, Maksimilyanovka, Dalniy, Antonovka and Yekaterinovka. Currently, 13 attacks are ongoing.
In the Vremivsky direction, the aggressor once stormed the Trudovoye area.
In the Dnieper direction, the enemy carried out three unsuccessful attacks.
Let us recall that on October 31, 170 battles took place on the front in 24 hours, almost a quarter of which were in the Kurakhovsky direction.
The Russians are paying a high price for their advance in the east - the Russian army has lost about 1,500 fighters in one day. The total number of losses since the start of the war is approaching 700,000.
[Breitbart] A migrant drug pusher reportedly avoided deportation from Britannia after arguing that his removal would cause mental health issues for his mother.
UK Home Office efforts to remove convicted Portuguese robber and drug pusher Fabio Indiai from the country were stymied after the migrant’s lawyers convinced a judge that being deported would breach his rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the Daily Mail reported.
A judge found that the provision, which guarantees the "right to respect for private and family life", would have been breached by removing Indiai because it would negatively impact the mental health of his mother, to whom Indiai allegedly provides day-to-day support.
The Portuguese migrant was previously imprisoned in 2021 for intent to supply Class-A drugs after being arrested with over £1,000 of cocaine, ketamine, and MDMA.
I assume his mother survived that experience, which means she would survive being without him again. Or she could join him in exile — money goes a lot further in Portugal than in England.
Additionally, Indiai had also served 18 months in a youth prison for robbery in 2012. While the Home Office did not seek to deport him after the initial offence, the government department did seek to remove him from the country following the end of his sentence for drug dealing.
Commenting on the decision to allow him to remain in the country, Conservative leadership candidate Robert Jenrick said: "You can’t make it up. And you can’t defend it. We must leave the ECHR."
From the Times of Israel liveblog, the headline efficiently summarizes several subsequent posts: here, here, and here.
Update at 1:00 p.m. ET:
Police update says 19 wounded in rocket attack on Tira
Citing medical officials, police raise the injury toll in the rocket attack on Tira to 19, four of whom were moderately hurt and the rest lightly. All 19 were taken to local hospitals, police add.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] In France, the original decree of Peter II, which disappeared from the Russian State Military Historical Archive (RGVIA), was sold at auction. The information was published on October 31 by the French auction house Aguttes.
The description of the lot on the auction house's website notes that the decree is very rare, since its author is the grandson of Emperor Peter the Great, Peter II, who did not rule for long, since he died early, at the age of 14.
The starting price for the document was €1–2 thousand; following the auction, the document was sold for €3,120 (approximately 330 thousand rubles).
As reported by the Izvestia publication, Vasilisa Denisova, deputy director of the Russian State Military Historical Archive, noted that the document on the "Decree of Emperor Peter II to the Military Collegium on the removal of Famentsyn from the post of commandant of St. Petersburg and the appointment of Prince G. A. Urusov in his place. September 9, 1727" turned out to be a dummy. It is not yet known when the document was replaced.
An investigation into the theft of the original is currently underway.
Earlier, Regnum News Agency reported that the first Russian auction of contemporary art VLADEY announced the sale of one of the famous works by the leader of the rock band Kino, Viktor Tsoi. The unusual painting was sold for a record amount of 76,900 euros.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Two people have been killed and six injured after a gunman opened fire in Orlando while thousands of people were out celebrating Halloween.
A 17-year-old suspect, Jaylen Dwayne Edgar, has been arrested after gunshots were heard in two different locations and he was tackled by police, according to police Chief Eric Smith.
Edgar was previously arrested for grand theft in 2023.
'He pretty much walked into downtown, walked into the street and did what he did,' Chief Smith said, adding that the teen suspect did not walk into any clubs.
Horrifying video shows hundreds of people running for their lives after gunshots were heard in the downtown area of the city.
The dead have not been named but are a 25-year-old black male and a white male aged 19, Orlando Police have said.
The other victims are a white male aged 18 who was shot in the lower leg, a white female aged 39 shot in the left land, a 24-year-old Hispanic female shot in the left leg, a black male aged 20 with a bullet graze to the head, a Hispanic male, 26, shot in the right foot, a 19-year-old Hispanic female shot in the upper back and a 26-year-old Hispanic female who was trampled but not shot.
The other victims are a white male aged 18 who was shot in the lower leg, a white female aged 39 shot in the left land, a 24-year-old Hispanic female shot in the left leg, a black male aged 20 with a bullet graze to the head, a Hispanic male, 26, shot in the right foot, a 19-year-old Hispanic female shot in the upper back and a 26-year-old Hispanic female who was trampled but not shot.
The individuals injured are in stable, pH balanced condition, police added.
Young people - many wearing Halloween costumes - had been out partying Thursday night in the area before the horror unfolded.
An emergency call came in just after 1am, with reports that several people had been shot around Central Boulevard and Orange Avenue, according to the Orlando Police Department.
A second call came in from out of Washington Street and Orange Avenue, Smith said.
Police had already been present at the scene and ran towards the gunfire, Smith said, allowing the suspect to be arrested quickly.
'Shortly after reported shots fired, a shooting suspect was located and taken into custody at Washington and Orange,' Smith said in his briefing this morning.
Officials said they are considering charging the suspect as an adult.
They are looking into a motive for the shooting.
Anywhere between 50,000 to 100,000 people are believed to have been downtown at the time of the shooting, judging by views of the huge Halloween crowds, Smith said.
#4
There’s an awful lot of grooming that went into that hair, that mustache, and that beginning beard. I’m not sure what he’s thinking in terms of those eyebrows, though.
[BBC] "We're at the mercy of Google." Undecided voters in the US who turn to Google may see dramatically different views of the world – even when they're asking the exact same question.
Type in "Is Kamala Harris a good Democratic candidate", and Google paints a rosy picture. Search results are constantly changing, but last week, the first link was a Pew Research Center poll showing that "Harris energises Democrats". Next is an Associated Press article titled "Majority of Democrats think Kamala Harris would make a good president", and the following links were similar. But if you've been hearing negative things about Harris, you might ask if she's a "bad" Democratic candidate instead. Fundamentally, that's an identical question, but Google's results are far more pessimistic.
"It's been easy to forget how bad Kamala Harris is," said an article from Reason Magazine in the top spot. Then the US News & World Report offered positive spin about how Harris isn't "the worst thing that could happen to America", but the following results are all critical. A piece from Al Jazeera explained "Why I am not voting for Kamala Harris", followed by an endless Reddit thread on why she's no good.
You can see the same dichotomy with questions about Donald Trump, conspiracy theories, contentious political debates and even medical information. Some experts say Google is just parroting your own beliefs right back to you. It may be worsening your own biases and deepening societal divides along the way.
"We're at the mercy of Google when it comes to what information we're able to find," says Varol Kayhan, an associate professor of information systems at the University of South Florida in the US.
THE BIAS MACHINE
"Google's whole mission is to give people the information that they want, but sometimes the information that people think they want isn't actually the most useful," says Sarah Presch, digital marketing director at Dragon Metrics, a platform that helps companies tune their websites for better recognition from Google using methods known as "search engine optimisation" or SEO.
It's a job that calls for meticulous combing through Google results, and a few years ago, Presch noticed a problem. "I started looking at how Google handles topics where there's heated debate," she says. "In a lot of cases, the results were shocking."
Some of the starkest examples looked at how Google treats certain health questions. Google often pulls information from the web and shows it at the top of results to provide a quick answer, which it calls a Featured Snippet. Presch searched for "link between coffee and hypertension". The Featured Snippet quoted an article from the Mayo Clinic, highlighting the words "Caffeine may cause a short, but dramatic increase in your blood pressure." But when she looked up "no link between coffee and hypertension", the Featured Snippet cited a contradictory line from the very same Mayo Clinic article: "Caffeine doesn't have a long-term effect on blood pressure and is not linked with a higher risk of high blood pressure".
The same thing happened when Presch searched for "is ADHD caused by sugar" and "ADHD not caused by sugar". Google pulled up Featured Snippets that argue support both sides of the question, again taken from the same article. (In reality, there's little evidence that sugar affects ADHD symptoms, and it certainly doesn't cause the disorder.)
She encountered the same issue with political questions. Ask "is the British tax system fair", and Google cites a quote from Conservative MP Nigel Huddleston, arguing that indeed it is. Ask "is the British tax system unfair", and Google's Featured Snippet explains how UK taxes benefit the rich and promote inequality.
"What Google has done is they've pulled bits out of the text based on what people are searching for and fed them what they want to read," Presch says. "It's one big bias machine."
For its part, Google says it provides users unbiased results that simply match people with the kind of information they’re looking for. "As a search engine, Google aims to surface high-quality results that are relevant to the query you entered," a Google spokesperson says. "We provide open access to a range of viewpoints from across the web, and we give people helpful tools to evaluate the information and sources they find."
WHEN THE FILTER BUBBLE POPS
By one estimate, Google handles some 6.3 million queries every second, totaling more nine billion searches a day. The vast majority of internet traffic begins with a Google Search, and people rarely click on anything beyond the first five links – let alone venturing onto the second page. One study that tracked users' eye movements found people often don't even look at anything past the top results. The system that orders the links on Google Search has colossal power over our experience of the world.
According to Google, the company is handling this responsibility well. "Independent academic research has refuted the idea that Google Search is pushing people into filter bubbles," the spokesperson says.
The question of so-called "filter bubbles" and "echo chambers" on the internet is a hot topic, though some research has questioned whether the effects of online echo chambers have been overstated.
But Kayhan – who has studied how search engines affect confirmation bias, the natural impulse to seek information that confirms your beliefs – says there's no question that our beliefs and even our own political identities are swayed by the systems that control what we see online. "We're dramatically influenced by how we receive information," he says.
Google's spokesperson says a 2023 study which concluded that people's exposure to partisan news is due more to the fact that that's what they click on, rather than Google serving up partisan news in the first place. In one sense, that's how confirmation bias works: people look for evidence that supports their views and ignore evidence that challenges them. But even in that study, the researchers said their findings do not imply that Google's algorithms are unproblematic. "In some cases, our participants were exposed to highly partisan and unreliable news on Google Search," the researchers said, "and past work suggests that even a limited number of such exposures can have substantial negative impacts".
Regardless, you might choose to engage with information that keeps you trapped in your filter bubble, "but there's only a certain bouquet of messages that are put in front of you to choose from in the first place", says Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, a professor of mediated communication at Technische Universität Berlin in Germany. "The algorithms play a substantial role in this problem."
Google did not respond to the BBC's question whether there's a person or a team who's specifically tasked with addressing the problem of confirmation bias.
'WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND DOCUMENTS – WE FAKE IT'
"In my opinion, this whole issue stems from the technical limitations of search engines, and the fact that people don't understand what those limitations are," says Mark Williams-Cook, founder of AlsoAsked, another search engine optimisation tool that analyses Google results.
A recent US anti-trust case against Google uncovered internal company documents where employees discuss some of the techniques the search engine uses to answer your questions. "We do not understand documents – we fake it," an engineer wrote in a slideshow used during a 2016 presentation at the company. "A billion times a day, people ask us to find documents relevant to a query… Beyond some basic stuff, we hardly look at documents. We look at people. If a document gets a positive reaction, we figure it is good. If the reaction is negative, it is probably bad. Grossly simplified, this is the source of Google's magic."
"That is how we serve the next person, keep the induction rolling, and sustain the illusion that we understand."
In other words, Google watches to see what people click on when they enter a given search term. When people seem satisfied by a certain type of information, it's more likely that Google will promote that kind of search result for similar queries in the future.
A Google spokesperson says these documents are outdated, and the system used to decipher queries and web pages has become far more sophisticated.
With billions of searches passing through its system every day, Google has a massive influence over what information people are exposed to (Credit: Serenity Strull/ BBC)
"That presentation is from 2016, so you have to take it with a pinch of salt, but the underlying concept is still true. Google builds models to try and predict what people like, but the problem is this creates a kind of feedback loop," Williams-Cook says. If confirmation bias pushes people to click on links that reinforce their beliefs, it can teach Google to show people links that lead to confirmation bias. "It's like saying you're going to let your kid pick out their diet based on what they like. They'll just end up with junk food," he says.
Williams-Cook also worries that people may not understand that when you ask something like "is Trump a good candidate", Google may not necessarily interpret that as a question. Instead, it often just pulls up documents that relate to keywords like "Trump" and "good candidate".
It gives people mistaken expectations about what they're going to get when they're searching, and that can push people to misinterpret what the search results mean, he says.
If users were more clear on the search engine's shortcomings, Williams-Cook believes they might think about the content they see more critically. "Google should do more to inform the public about how Search actually works. But I don't think they will, because to do that you have to admit some imperfections about what's not working," he says. (To learn more about the inner workings of search engines, read this article about how Google's updates to its algorithm are changing the internet.)
Google is open about the fact that Search is never a solved problem, a company spokesperson says, and the company works tirelessly to address the deep technical challenges in the field as they crop up. Google also points to features it offers that help users evaluate information, such as the "About this result" tool and notices that let users know when results about a topic related to breaking news are changing quickly.
And then there are the philosophical questions, explored at the link.
[BBC] Two Australian mathematicians have called into question an old adage, that if given an infinite amount of time, a monkey pressing keys on a typewriter would eventually write the complete works of William Shakespeare.
Known as the "infinite monkey theorem", the thought-experiment has long been used to explain the principles of probability and randomness.
However,
you can observe a lot just by watching... a new peer-reviewed study led by Sydney-based researchers Stephen Woodcock and Jay Falletta has found that the time it would take for a typing monkey to replicate Shakespeare's plays, sonnets and poems would be longer than the lifespan of our universe.
Which means that while mathematically true, the theorem is "misleading", they say.
As well as looking at the abilities of a single monkey, the study also did a series of calculations based on the current global population of chimpanzees, which is roughly 200,000.
The results indicated that even if every chimp in the world was enlisted and able to type at a pace of one key per second until the end of the universe, they wouldn't even come close to typing out the Bard's works.
There would be a 5% chance that a single chimp would successfully type the word "bananas" in its own lifetime. And the probability of one chimp constructing a random sentence - such as "I chimp, therefore I am" - comes in at one in 10 million billion billion, the research indicates.
[Breitbart] As the Biden-Harris administration’s term ends, its four-year focus on social reforms over combat readiness has left America’s armed forces woke, weak, and dangerously unprepared — with historically low military recruitment numbers, lowered standards, and compromised morale at a time of rising global threats.
The administration’s military policies prioritizing social agendas over readiness have resulted in a politicized, underfunded, undermanned, and unprepared force. Furthermore, under Biden and Harris, the military faced a recruitment crisis, with major branches repeatedly missing targets and standards lowered to meet numbers — impacting readiness.
SOCIAL REFORM OVER READINESS
From day one, the Biden-Harris administration vowed to "cleanse" the military by ridding the ranks of what it labeled "racists and Death Eaters."
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, requiring a congressional waiver to serve due to recent military service, immediately issued mandates to root out alleged extremism — which he deemed "absolutely unacceptable" — and promote diversity.
By early 2022, Pentagon data revealed that service members spent $1 million and nearly six million man-hours on "stand-down" days and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training rather than on mission-critical exercises, a move critics argue pulled focus from combat preparedness.
"We face real threats across the world, yet the Biden administration is more focused on promoting its leftist social agenda in the military instead of countering China, Russia and Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... or creating an effective counterterrorism plan," said a dozen Senate Armed Services Committee Republicans in a joint statement at the time.
#1
First you got to purge the top levels. A good start is to set the ratio of general officers to enlisted as the same as during WW2 when we had a hellva lot more in uniform.
[ShabelleMedia] Somalia’s elite special forces units, known as DANAB and Gorgor, successfully neutralized 15 al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... forces of Evil and demolished several of their hideouts near Qaycad, in the Galmudug ...a semiautonomous region in central Somalia, bordering Puntland on the north. Galmudug is not trying to obtain international recognition as a separate nation, but rather considers itself autonomous within the larger Somali federalism, for what that's worth... State, according to a statement from the ministry of information.
The operation, which took place in the pre-dawn hours, marks another significant military action against the al-Qaeda-linked group al-Shabaab, which has plagued Somalia with insurgency for years.
The special forces, trained with support from international allies including the United States and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... , have been at the forefront of Somalia’s efforts to dismantle al-Shabaab’s infrastructure and reduce its operational capabilities.
The Galmudug State, like other regions in Somalia, has seen frequent festivities between the national forces and al-Shabaab, with the forces of Evil often using the area for hideouts and training bases.
This latest operation is part of a broader strategy to clear these regions of bad boy presence, enhancing security and stability in central Somalia.
The Somali government has not reported any casualties among the national forces but confirmed the significant blow to al-Shabaab’s ranks and logistics.
The destruction of the hideouts is seen as a strategic move to disrupt the group’s activities, including its ability to plan attacks and maintain control over territories.
This military success comes at a time when Somalia is also engaging in political reforms and economic recovery, aiming to stabilize the country post-conflict.
The operation in Galmudug State underscores the ongoing commitment of the Somali military, with support from its international partners, to eradicate the threat posed by al-Shabaab and restore peace across the nation.
[GEO.TV] At least 10 Palestinians were killed on Friday in an Israeli strike targeting the entrance of a school sheltering displaced people in Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, medics told Reuters.
Another local Hamas HQ and weapons stash surrounded by willing and unwilling human shields, no doubt. There doesn’t seem to have been a single innocent, single-use school, mosque, hospital, or public building in all the Gaza Strip.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2024
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[11167 views]
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[GEO.TV] Swedish climate activist Greta "Pippi" Thunberg ...an autistic sixteen year old Swedish expert on climate change, though I guess she's older now... on Friday slammed sitting President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. Joe's wife and daughter weren't killed by a drunk driver. He didn't graduate with three or even two degrees, wasn't in the top half of his law class, and his daddy didn't come home from a hard day's work in the mines and play football with the guys. The NAACP hasn't endorsed him every time he's run.... and Vice President Kamala Harris launched her campaign on the “RuPaul’s Drag Race” — who is running against former president Donald Trump ...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons... — for their backing of Israel and its offensive in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... .
"Let's not forget that the genocide in Paleostine is happening under the Biden and Harris administration, with American money and complicity," Thunberg said.
"It is not in any way 'feminist', 'progressive' or 'humanitarian' to bomb innocent children and civilians — it is the opposite, even if it is a woman in charge."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2024
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#1
Dear Greta -
On behalf of the rest of the world, please shut - and I can not emphasize this enough - the fu@k up.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/02/2024 8:17
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#3
Re #2: No, but rather like two radio stations with really lose frequencies; trying to tune only one in on an old fashioned radio ( think any 60’s car AM) only results in more unintelligible garbage.
Posted by: Large Fillmore9771 ||
11/02/2024 11:07
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#4
in January, Greta will be 22 years old.
she didn't graduate high school until 2023 because of the time she took off for protesting
don't know what college she will attend if any
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
11/02/2024 20:03
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[GEO.TV] Strikes come after Israel’s military issues two forced evacuation orders for neighbourhoods in Beirut’s southern suburb.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2024
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#1
I've never been to Beirut. But from the pix I've seen, it used to be pretty. The Paris of the Middle East, they called. Maybe it still is, judging by the Massive shootout sparks battle between up to 600 people in France story. Or maybe France is just becoming the Beirut of Europe.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
[LegalInsurrection] Recent reports indicate that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and its Russian counterpart Roscosmos are facing serious safety concerns on the 
...
...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,...
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set. Currently the disease is only found in Pakistain and Afghanistain...
[AMGREATNESS] Two of the five schools which chose to cancel and forfeit their women’s volleyball matches rather than compete against biological male player Blaire Fleming have been asked for money from San Jose State University (SJSU).
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] North Korea will stand by Russia until its victory in Ukraine, Pyongyang's foreign minister said in Moscow Friday, as the US has warned thousands of North Korean troops could be sent to combat in the Ukraine conflict in the coming days.
[APNEWS] A Washington state man accused of leading a wildlife trafficking ring on a Native American reservation that killed thousands of eagles and hawks to sell on the black market was sentenced Thursday to nearly four years in prison.
A migrant 
[AmThinker] 
Two Australian mathematicians have called into question an old adage, that if given an infinite amount of time, a monkey pressing keys on a typewriter would eventually write the complete works of William Shakespeare.
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
...46th president of the U.S. Joe's wife and daughter weren't killed by a drunk driver. He didn't graduate with three or even two degrees, wasn't in the top half of his law class, and his daddy didn't come home from a hard day's work in the mines and play football with the guys. The NAACP hasn't endorsed him every time he's run....
